Genesis
by squigglysquid
Summary: Part two of the Parable series. Covers the events of ME 1 with the premise that Jane Shepard and Garrus Vakarian were married before the events of Eden Prime. I do not own the claim to any of these characters. They are the product of Bioware. Like Juxtaposed, updates should include at least one chapter a day (sometimes more) with a break for the author during the weekend.
1. Chapter 1

-Jane-

Propelling through the vacuum of space in direction for the Arcturus Prime Relay, the Alliance's newest starship, the SSV Normandy. Though it flies the Alliance's colors of stark white and bold black along its body, the SR1 is a breakthrough for the entire galaxy and in more ways than one.

This new stealth frigate is a living product of a mutual collaboration between two once-bitter enemies, the Turian people and humans. Aside from its visual hybridization of Turian and human ship design, the internal mechanics of the SR1 Normandy boasts its most unique product of the union, an advanced stealth system.

For centuries, the idea of starship stealth was unobtainable despite various attempts, but the Normandy is set to succeed where others have failed with its state-of-the-art internal emission sink, or IES, and experimental Tantalus Drive Core. The IES allows the ship to travel off-radar of any opponent by being able to store its radiating heat in internal casings and releasing that heat once it has safely evaded detection. The drive core, which is easily twice the size of any other ships despite being held in such a small ship, can generate a large enough concentration of mass to move through space faster and more quietly than any other without having to cool.

Within this unique ship is a woman, perhaps as equally unique, and she makes her way to the cockpit as the pilot engages to travel through the relay. This woman's true name of Jane Vakarian is kept secret, known only by a few and only allowed to be spoken by a single individual.

To the galaxy, this woman is known as Commander Jane Shepard, Alliance N7 and executive officer of the SSV Normandy SR1.

"Board is green. Approach run has begun." The pilot's voice echoes over the ship intercom as Jane makes it in time to see the massive relay through the Normandy's windows.

She stands proud, hands at rest behind her back, and watches as the center rings of the Mass Relay circulate faster around its core, the bright blue light of the Element Zero seeming to grow brighter at their approach. She hears the pilot's voice begin a countdown to the jump as the gyroscopic rings move at an almost undistinguishable pace, the ship at her feet shifting as the Eezo grabs hold of it.

Suddenly the ground shifts like a rocking boat on the sea, the effects as the Normandy it propelled forward through space, only to settle back just as suddenly.

Jane listens to the pilot, remembering now that he had introduced himself by his nickname Joker. "Thrusters… check. Navigation… check. Internal emissions sink engaged. All systems online. Drift… just under 1500 K."

Most of that goes straight over Jane's head but the Turian Spectre beside her nods his head in approval. "1500 is good. Your Captain will be pleased." He turns and leaves, leaving Jane to watch him go, confusion furrowing her brows.

She had vaguely met the Spectre when she got onto the Ship at Arcturus Station, he seemed friendly enough - didn't look down his figurative nose at her when she introduced herself and even twitched a brow plate at her slip of a nodded greeting - but his presence was odd.

Only thing she had heard about this run was that it was simply to test the stealth systems. She understood if the Hierarchy wanted to see the Normandy in action in its maiden voyage by sending in a representative to see it work in person, but a Spectre?

She would think he'd have more important things to do with his time than travel through space and sit around while the systems are checked. Then again, the Council did have a hand in setting up the deal better her people and his, so maybe that was the reason.

The only thing that put a notch in her logic was the fact that he all but said he wasn't here for that in his subtle body language. Who would have thought she'd be able to use her experience with her Turian husband to see through a Turian's lie when he thought he was around a species who didn't know the nuances? Hopefully the secrecy was just a precaution and not a precursor of something worse.

She is pulled out of her thoughts by Joker and the ship's Lieutenant, Kaidan Alenko, bickering about something. "Yeah, that's the _official story_ they tell us…only idiots believe something like that. I still say the Spectre means trouble."

Jane steps into their conversation. Whether they forgot she was there or just didn't think she'd say something, they need to know that while she's all for soldiers joking around, the cockpit isn't the place to talk trash about the Council or Spectres when one was just here. "Whatever Nihlus is here for, it's not our place to question it. We have orders and if you have a problem with the Spectre, then trust in your Captain."

Probably a bit harsh, but then again, she did always have a hard time being friendly when it came with command. She wants her subordinates to like her, sure, but she needs them to respect her if she's to make sure they all fulfill their missions successfully. Survival and completely their task comes first and if it makes her a very lonely leader, than she supposes that's fine.

"Sorry, Commander," Alenko says and she can hear the truth in his words and in the shift of his hands over the holokeys, movements quick and precise. "We meant no disrespect."

"Joker! Status report." Captain Anderson's stern voice from the pilot's dashboard is a welcome break into their conversation – better known as her scolding – and she instinctively straightens up at the implied command.

She never would have thought that her conversation so long ago with the man would have led to the posting she now has. Anderson had approached her after her N7 graduation ceremony and spoke in vague questions and riddles, as he apparently did with every other N7. To think that all of that equated to an interview for the position of his XO, and for it to end up also being on the first-of-its-kind ship was an experience Jane couldn't pass up.

Anderson had contacted her in late December of 2182 and requested she take the positon under his command. She accepted his offer without hesitation, wanting to take the offer to be a part of something so pivotal, but later began to stress of the implications such a posting caused.

Though this ship may keep her from the loving family she had finally found, she knew it would be a risk associated with the life of a soldier. It was actually her mate, Garrus, that had helped her see that the threat of separation always existed but this chance was more than worth it. She knows his tender promise to always wait for her return also helped to ease the guilt of her immediate acceptance.

Jane silently rolls her eyes as she overhears Joker dig himself into a hole because of his dislike for the Turian Spectre, getting an unamused response from their Commanding Officer. She then hears his statement to relay a message for her to meet in the comm room and she pivots to leave, throwing a quick "I'm on it" to the pilot when he acknowledges her orders.

Jane passes by the galaxy map and overhears the navigations officer, Pressly, speaking with the lead engineer over the same suspicions from the cockpit. Engineer Adams seems to be in the midst of trying to calm Pressly who is continually insisting that having their guest is asking for trouble for the Alliance.

Shaking her head, Jane avoids that mess knowing full well that if the cockpit has taught her anything, she's bound to just rip someone's ass if they tell her Nihlus shouldn't be aboard and that their situation isn't normal for the Normandy's maiden voyage. Honestly, what's the big deal? He's not breathing down everyone's necks and there isn't any secrets of the ship that Turians don't know since they helped build it, which everyone seems to forget.

She nods to the silver haired Doctor Chakwas who is lecturing Jenkins, a young and enthusiastic Corporal that Jane had previously spoken to when the ship was still docked and running through procedures. To call him a kid is absolutely accurate, with his eager to please and eager to see action attitude. Hopefully, their earlier talk of patience and calm in action stuck in case she finds the man under her command.

The two stop their conversation for a moment to acknowledge Jane as she passes by them and rounds the corner to enter the communications room. The doors slide open to reveal the lone Spectre standing before a hologram image of their destination, the colony of Eden Prime.

The Spectre must hear her steps as she enters the room because he turns and speaks. "Ah, Commander Shepard, I was hoping we'd get a chance to speak before your Captain arrived."

Despite herself, her brow raises in a quizzical glance. "What exactly would you be wanting to speak privately with me about that Captain Anderson can't answer?"

"I've heard many things about this world we're going to. I've heard Eden Prime is quite beautiful." She shrugs dismissively, something very typical from Garrus and Nihlus' mandible flickers. She inwardly curses at the fact that now he's got another case of her using a Turian quirk and he's starting to question the reason.

He continues despite the odd occurrence, turning back to the hologram of the colony as he speaks. "I've heard many humans call Eden Prime a paradise, a symbol of humanity's capability to begin a colony without foreign aid. Humanity used Eden Prime to show that not only can you establish colonies throughout the galaxy but your Alliance can also defend them, as shown by your willingness to develop in systems bordering the Terminus." He turns back to Jane. "But how safe is Eden Prime, really?"

She scowls, confused by the lead up and tone of his question. He's obviously fishing for something in this conversation but whatever it may be, she has no clue. "Nihlus, if you've got something to say you might as well just say it and stop beating around the bush." His brow plate rises. . _Right, probably doesn't know that one. Better explain_. "Just speaking plainly."

His plates relax and he stands to the side, giving him the chance to look at her and the screen on both of his sides. He seems like he's about to speak again when the doors at Jane's back open to the sound of rushing air from the hydraulics.

"I think it's time we told the Commander what's really going on." Captain Anderson turns to Jane, his hands at a relaxed rest behind his back. He then tells her of a discovery on Eden Prime of a Prothean beacon much like the one that had initially lead humanity to creating the technology for space travel. He then tells her that the whole reason for the Normandy to choose Eden Prime as its first voyage is to pick up this beacon and transport it where it can be properly studied.

Jane knows enough from her time off spent countless amounts of television on the Citadel, which she is proud to say actually including watching something with purpose, that a find of such importance is required to be open for study by all as law by the Council. When Nihlus all but says this, she assumes this is the reason for his presence, to ensure that the beacon arrives at its intended destination and not taken in secret.

She isn't prepared for the Spectre to add the fact that he has another reason for being on the ship. When Anderson acknowledges that Nihlus is here for her, she almost questions what the Captain means by 'evaluate you.'

_Well, I guess it would explain the hard time I have trying to avoid the guy so I don't slip up and do or say something I would with Garrus and end up breaking our rule of professionalism._ She can't really respond with her thoughts so the two continue, taking her silence for being in deep consideration.

It's when Nihlus makes reference to her nightmare on Akuze that she can't remain polite and interrupts. "I'm sorry but, with all due respect, what does me being lucky enough and fast enough to survive a Maw have to do with being a Spectre?" She looks to Anderson. "How does that show the galaxy what the Alliance has to offer?" She makes sure to use almost his exact words to prove her point.

"I put your name forward for the Spectres, Shepard." Nihlus draws her attention and she catches a glimpse of an intrigued mandible flick. _Good to know he finds my utter confusion enjoyable. Save me from Turians who enjoy watching me flounder._"I see potential in all of your actions in your service record. Akuze was a test of survival, not luck as you seem to think. The ability to adapt and maintain composure when faces with great difficulty is something all Spectres must possess. Even your N7 training records show your ability to adapt and lead a small team through missions that were thought to only be accomplished by large platoons."

"Earth needs this if we want a say in galactic politics and regulation, Shepard. Everyone is counting on you becoming a Spectre and showing the other races what the Alliance can do." She inwardly curses Anderson for bringing up the fact that this would throw her into the biggest spotlight she could imagine. _What a great way to convince someone by telling them how much pressure they'll have. Probably not the best pep talk, sir._

Knowing that her job in the Alliance is to put others before herself, she swallows the overburdened feeling from the sudden surprise of responsibility and speaks confidently. "I'll serve well and show the best of the Alliance, sir."

Nihlus tells her how this will be her first test of many, followed by the Captain explaining that the ground team will be put under her full authority while the Spectre follows and observes her on the field. She knows the immediate need to start the process and nods in acknowledgement, easily putting her fluttering heart at the surprising information to rest, but before she can be dismissed, Joker calls through the comm, his voice anxious and uneasy and claiming to have an important transmission from the planet.

"Bring it up on screen, Joker," Anderson acknowledges and the vidscreen over the entire back wall shifts from a serene image to a video capture from Eden Prime.

The video is shaky, probably from a helmet mounted device, and shows a hectic field of soldiers, constant gunfire as figures drop with injuries from their unseen enemies. A female soldier shoves the individual capturing footage to the ground and continues to throw out fire, explosions breaking through the din of guns and knocking more of the soldiers to the ground.

A voice speaks through the chaos, but it is unhelpful as it only helps to solidify what Jane and her companions know, there are heavy casualties and no insight on the enemy. The speaker is cut off mid-report as an unseen force drags him away to join the growing numbers.

A loud rumbling fills the comm room as the recording reverberates from some sound that Jane knows isn't from any gun or explosive. It's an angry mechanical droning and it sends chills down her spine as the footage looks up to the sky, revealing a massive black ship descending. The footage cuts into static, possibly signaling the end to the brave soul who thought to give anyone a chance of a look at their killer.

Joker tells them that comm traffic is completely dead from the planet, which is disturbingly odd to think of with so much reliability on it for a colony world. The Captain orders the pilot to find a certain frame of the video and when it fills the screen, Jane is giving another opportunity to witness that strange ship. She sees Nihlus' mandibles flicker in disbelief out of the corner of her eye and finds herself completely agreeing with the sentiment as she lays eyes on a build of ship that seems more creature that transport.

It is long, longer than any ship she's seen before, and descends upright, completely opposite from the elongated dreadnaughts of every spacefaring species. That included with the odd shape that brings doubt to its space worthiness leaves her positive that Eden Prime wasn't attacked by any enemy they're used to.

With no Alliance aid in the system to call on, Anderson orders Jane to collect her team and prepare them to land to collect the beacon. They are the only option for ensuring that that Prothean beacon gets back to the Normandy, and the Citadel, intact and with it being her first shot at becoming a Spectre, she's damn sure she isn't going to fuck it up.

~SquigglySquid says: And here is the beginning of the hunt for Saren! What's the opinion of putting the game into words? Tried not to quote the game but still have the basic things said. This will not be a walkthrough, missions and assignments that have a plot point that hits at the story will be touched on (besides main story of course). On a side note, I never really thought about how stiff everyone is in ME1 when they talk :P


	2. Chapter 2

-Jane-

All the stress and anger from her failure at Eden Prime drains with her climax and a heavy exhale. Her head drops from the drained feeling and her husband chuckles below her, his hands pushing the hair from her sweaty face.

"Damn, Garrus," she huffs with a tired, but welcome, smile. "I swear it's like you were made for the best quickies with your curve and ridges…" She drops to her hands above him, exhausted and fully sated.

"You just want me for my body…" He smirks and she drops a loving kiss to his plates, wiping that attitude from his lips. Coming home to him, even if only for a quick hello and tension relief, helps to calm the hectic thoughts about the reason she's here on the Citadel in the first place. "Jane," he says softly as he cups her cheek to draw her attention. "What's wrong?"

She smiles, the action empty of any real mirth. "Nothing's wrong… I can't have sex with my mate after being away?"

He snorts with a dismissive shake of his head, clearly not impressed. "If I know anything about you – which I do – I'd say that the fact that the first thing you did after being apart for two months was to pin me to the ground and have your way with me clearly points to you needing a way to ease stress… I'm not complaining, mind you, I just want to help you in more ways than one." He nuzzles against her cheek in a mock kiss with a comforting purr.

Jane sighs with defeat and inwardly curses his ability to read her so easily. "It's this last mission… it was the epitome of the shit hitting the fan." She jerks up and crosses her arms across her chest angrily. "First we find out that things weren't just a simple test run and though that, in itself, wasn't a big deal, it turned out that our new mission to pick something up was fucked before we even arrived on location." She drops her head back with a sigh, the countless things that went wrong on Eden Prime running through her mind.

Garrus shifts under her, sitting up as she shifts off of him to sit at his side. "We get a distress transmission of the colony being attacked and we couldn't even get an idea of who." She huffs a distressed laugh. "Turns out the damn planet was swarming in Geth. Geth!" She looks to him, her eyes wide in disbelief. "What the fuck is that shit? Hundreds of years with no word of the synthetic bastards and they show up out of nowhere?" She scoffs and tosses a hand in frustration.

With a concerned hum, Garrus wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls her to him so their sides press together. He softly rubs her sex-chilled shoulder in silent offer to continue.

"Garrus," she drops her head in remorse and refusing to look him in the eye. "I let people down… I lost two fucking people on that planet… Jenkins, a kid for Christ's sake, got shot because I gave him an order to take lead around a corner-"

"Hey," Garrus interrupts and lifts her chin with his free hand, forcing her to look at his stern expression. "That is not your fault. You and I both know that if you had believed there was any danger of enemy fire, you would have taken the lead." His expression loosens and his hold shifts to cup her jaw. "You can't torture yourself because someone was lost and you can't force yourself to take the blame… sometimes, things like that just happen without reason."

She nods weakly and knows that though he is technically right, it will still take time to come to accept what she sees as a personal failure. Her eyes drop again as she debates whether or not to continue and hoping that he wouldn't push her. She knows he won't despite his want to, but also knows that getting it off her chest make help her have a clear head for the Council meeting later today.

"I…didn't just lose one person on that rock." She takes his hand on her jaw in her hand and he quickly lets her link her fingers in his own. "Nihlus Kryik, a Spectre overseeing the Normandy and supposedly evaluating me, was killed." She scowls, not seeing the quick flicker of surprise on Garrus' face. "Shot in the back of the head like a god damn animal."

That was the worst of finding the Turian dead at the spaceport, not the fact that it would possibly affect her Spectre training like Anderson seemed to be concerned with but the fact that he wasn't even given a chance to defend himself or see his killer. To go out fighting was a good death, one that she felt was worthy if it was inevitable, but by the looks of his wound he was shot almost point blank. The dock worker only confirmed that suspicion when he told his story and turned the entire mission on its head.

"We had a witness tell us he saw what happened to Nihlus. He said another Turian shot him in the back of the head once he let his guard down." She looks straight into her husband's eyes and takes note of the knowing look in them. "He said Nihlus called him 'Saren.'"

A low growl pulses from Garrus' chest and Jane tilts her head in confusion. "Do you know him, Garrus?"

"'Know him?'" Garrus growls and Jane can easily pinpoint the subtle signs of distaste of the person in question. "I was given the task of investigating the bastard just yesterday and I've been busting my ass to get it done in the time Pallin gave me. Looks like I now know why…"

At this information, Jane's brows furrow. "At least everyone _acts_ like they're doing something about it." She lightly rubs her thumb across the plates of his hand in hers. "Garrus, if this guy really was there, then he tried to blow Eden Prime to hell to cover his tracks and he's working with the Geth."

His growl has lowered in intensity as he ponders her words, perhaps trying to see a connection between the task he was given and the events. "Did anything give you a reason why he was there? Why he killed his fellow Spectre?"

She shakes her head once. "I have no clue why he murdered Nihlus but I know what he was after… The Normandy was supposed to bring a Prothean artifact that was found back to the Citadel."

He tilts his head in confusion. "Why? From what I know of the Spectre, he isn't interested enough in Prothean tech to blatantly attack a colony."

She bites her lip, knowing he definitely won't like that answer and the reason she knows it. "He wanted it for a vision it contained…"

His mandible twitches in irritation. _Oh he definitely doesn't like what the clues are leading his train of thought to_, she thinks and inwardly cringes. "And just how would you know he wants this _vision_?" he growls.

_Oh yeah, definitely pissed at the turn of events._ She guesses this is the first time ever seeing that 'protective instinct' Turians are thought to have over bondmates._Good thing his ire is not directed at me. Feel bad for whoever gets in his way when he gets back to work, though._

Jane sighs, trying to force the rising tension to calm. She wants to hopefully calm him, not make things worse by her answer. "Because I saw it too," she says softly with a weak smile.

His eyes narrow, clearly not falling for her half answer. _Damn this Turian and his stubbornness. Marrying him only made it worse._ "I didn't have much choice, Garrus." She huffs in defeat. "It was either me or my Lieutenant…and I wasn't risking losing another person on that hellhole."

"So you thought it'd be better if you went out?" His growl is less intense, but just barely, and his mandible flicks in agitation. "Don't you think that's a bit foolish?"

His remark makes her eyes narrow in anger. "Don't you dare give me that shit… you would've done the same damn thing. Haven't you always said Turians believe in 'self-sacrifice'?" His eyes widen in realization and his features soften in understanding.

"Turians put higher ranking soldiers above lower ranks, but I understand what you're saying." He softly informs with a rumble of apology. "I just don't think you should go out there and expect to throw yourself in the way of a bullet for your subordinate for the sake of making sure they live. What's the point if you die in their stead?"

Jane shakes her head in frustration. "In our type of work, we can't promise to always stay out of trouble. It's no different than if you were in danger." She looks into his eyes, pleading with him to understand. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I can change that."

He sighs and drops his head, probably feeling like her and not wanting to ruin the little time they have together with a fight they both have different views on and may never budge on. After a moment of silence that drags in the still bedroom, he squeezes her hand. "Did anything happen when you got the vision?"

She bites her lip in silent contemplation. If she tells him, she's positive their mutual agreement to not fight will mean nothing and he'll be upset beyond imagine. She also knows that her refusal to answer will just give him the idea that something happened that he wouldn't like to hear.

The only thing that helps her with the indecision is the promise they made when they bonded for life to always carry the other's burdens and truths. "Yeah." She weakly smiles. "I saw things out of a nightmare, but couldn't make any sense of it." She tangles her free hand in her messy hair. "All I can make out are machines, people, and the feeling of death."

He exhales heavily, his shoulders tense, but he doesn't respond as she fears. His expected reprimand for taking Alenko's place in the pull of the beacon, both silent and spoken, completely absent. "Are you feeling okay now?" he asks with a concerned hum to his harmonics.

She smiles warmly and strokes her free hand along his cheek, relishing the pressure of his slight nuzzle back. "No, I think I'm alright now."

He purrs and leans in to rub his head against hers before tilting sideways to plant a human kiss on her lips. He pulls away and moves to stand. "I'd love nothing else but to stay here with you, but I have to be at C-Sec and ready for a Council meeting. I expect you do too."

She snorts and nods in an affirmative, standing up to grab her own set of light clothes. She easily finds the flexible light armor with the red stripe and N7 emblazoned on the breast and slips her legs in.

By the time she lifts her foot to the desk chair to tie the laces and clip the latches of her boots, Garrus is done with his own armor. She hears the drops of his steps approaching her right before she feels the sharp jolt in her ass.

She jerks her shoulders, her hands clasped in her boots, and looks over her shoulder with a glare. "Do you mind?" He chuckles and rubs the spot he just slapped. "That's something you do when the clothes are supposed to come_off_, not while we're getting dressed to leave."

"I like seeing you in armor," he says, clearly ignoring her statement and he continues to stroke her ass cheek through the flexible textile. "I've never seen you like this in person, only on vids and pictures in your files."

She raises her brow and turns back to her task, talking loud enough for him to understand her clearly. "You looked me up?"

"Only after we were married. Had to make sure I didn't make a huge mistake…" She glares at his smirk as she drops her completed foot and switches to the other boot.

"I hate you," she huffs with a tight tug on her laces.

He laughs and leans down to her ear. "No, you _love_ me." He nuzzles into her hair at the curve of her ear with a loving purr. He pulls away and leaves her to complete her task without his distractions.

She gets her shoes tied and quickly tidies her hair in the bathroom mirror before meeting him at the door to leave. She lifts on her toes and wraps her arms around his neck as his own hands grip her waist. "Thanks, Garrus." She says as she presses against his plated forehead.

"For what?" He rumbles and nuzzles into her touch.

"For everything… For letting me use you to ease my stress, for forcing me to talk to you about what happened, for understanding that I may never change the way I am but dropping it anyways so we could enjoy each other's short company… for caring enough about me to actually be protective when I go on duty." She drops lower and pulls one arm back to cup his mandible. "I've never had someone in my life care about my safety and wellbeing. I'm still so new to it and I promise to try and see things your way."

He hums with a soft flicker of his free mandible and moves closer, their mouths coming together in a passionate kiss of two people with complete love and devotion for the other. They pull away despite their desire and inner pull to remain in position. "Good luck out there with the Council, Jane. I'll be sure to bring you something to help your case." He quickly strokes a finger along her jaw before stepping out of their apartment with her at his back. "This case got a lot more personal."


	3. Chapter 3

~SquigglySquid says: This is not an Ashley bashing, but simply two people not getting along because of completely differing views. I never personally liked her, but she is a good character. :)~

-Jane-

When Ambassador Udina had claimed to have gotten an audience with the Council, Jane hadn't imagined it'd take so damn long to _have_ the meeting.

_Instead, I'm here sitting on a damn bench like I'm on vacation and not in full armor while waiting for the call to appear like a damn dog._ She sighs and tosses her head back in frustration. They had been told to arrive at the Citadel Tower ten minutes ago, but with the knowledge that the Council wasn't ready to see them, Anderson and the Ambassador had them wait here while they went ahead.

A clear of a throat pulls her attention to her companions, the two marines of her squad on Eden Prime, Lieutenant Alenko and Gunnery Chief Williams. Capable soldiers, both of them, but clearly just as anxious sitting around as she was.

She had had a small chance to speak with them each while the Normandy was brought into the Citadel docks. The Lieutenant was obviously worked up from the loss of Corporal Jenkins and guilt ridden for the beacon incident, but was able to calm some when Jane began to convince him otherwise. He'll get over it in time, she knows, but it's all in his own hands.

Besides that, she could easily tell he was an emotionally driven person, able to empathize with those around him better than she could, but was more than able to put that aside in battle, as shown on Eden Prime. He was a capable soldier and his position on the ship under Anderson was well deserved.

The Gunnery Chief, however, was another story. Jane admits that she kept a good eye on the woman while they fought through Geth on the colony, but she only did that to both see her skill and check for signs she herself exhibited on Akuze. Apparently, the woman had caught on and called her out on it back on the ship, which was fine with Jane and she was more than happy to explain to her, but things had just gone downhill from there.

Williams had taken it personally, shoving the fact that Anderson had taken her under his command even if Jane thought otherwise. She had told Jane she wouldn't take orders from her because she was just an XO and had no power over her. She had also called her blind for letting her distrust of a plain colony Chief's abilities cloud her duty to the Captain's orders. Jane knows she should have just brushed the woman's attitude towards her off and taken it as stress from the fight but when the topic of Akuze came up, she couldn't continue to bite her tongue.

She ripped into the Chief, making it clear that they weren't here to make friends and that, although Anderson accepted her, Jane commanded the ground teams. If Williams didn't like her observing her actions on the field, which was logical for a superior to do, she could just request to stay off the ground team. She also, none too nicely, warned the woman to think twice about bringing up Akuze with such distain again.

Jane rubs at the headache forming from the memory in her temples. She doesn't like the drama that seems to stem from the woman, but if Williams can learn to leave their differences on the ship and not continue to cause such stress, Jane will gladly agree to leave her be.

Her thoughts are cut off by the chime of her Omni-Tool. A quick glance lets her know that the Council is ready to see them, so she stands and motions the other two to follow. They file into the large glass elevator and Jane sets the command to take them to the top, the location of the legendary Council Chambers. As they make their way up the numbers steps to their destination, Jane nearly stops short at the familiar voice echoing from atop the stairs.

To say the sight of her husband was one of an upset Turian would be a severe understatement; she's sure 'pissed off' wouldn't even come close either. Standing before the big fountain on the landing, Garrus seems to be arguing with another, older Turian, a coppery-tan male with geometric white markings, that she supposes is the superior who gave him the Saren case.

"Stall the Council?" The Turian's brows rise and mandibles flicker in disbelief, probably at Garrus' audibly low growl and visibly clenched mandibles. "Don't be ridiculous. Your investigation is over, Garrus." He dismissively waves him off, deliberately ending the conversation as he turns to make his way further up to the Chambers.

Garrus' hands tighten into fists as he glare's at the man's receding back, but he quickly turns at her squad's approach. His mandibles visibly relax, not to the point of complete ease, his fists unclench, and his harmonics lower in intensity. "Commander Shepard?" The title sounds strange and oddly disheartening coming from his mouth. "Garrus Vakarian." He nods in typical Turian greeting and she fights hard to keep still. A subtle flick of mandible speaks silently of his shared unease at their professionalism. "I was the officer in charge of the C-Sec investigation into Saren."

She inwardly frowns at what the previous scene must mean for his attempts at getting information. "It's a pleasure, Officer, but I get the feeling we aren't meeting under good circumstances for our case." _I see you got bogged down again from the red-tape_. She sees the recognition of her words' double meaning flash in his eyes.

He crosses his arms across his chest and exhales slowly. "I've always thought something about him was wrong, I think there's a saying 'I can feel it in my gut'? I know he's dirty, but since he's a Spectre, everything he touches is locked away and deemed classified." His mandibles clench again. "I couldn't get anything that'll stick, no hard evidence." _Yes, fucking C-Sec screwed me again and I couldn't get anything on the bastard._ His eyes speak apology under the laced anger and she nods, making it look like an acknowledgement to his statement but knowing he sees her silent understanding.

Behind her, Alenko interrupts with a "Commander, I believe the Council is ready to see us" along with the low scoff, but she intentionally ignores the young woman's disproval.

She looks over her should with a quick nod to the Lieutenant and turns back to Garrus. He drops his hands and shifts to stand straighter. "Good luck, Commander. Maybe they'll listen to you."

She nods, both in mock thanks and real farewell, and leaves her husband, taking a quick glance back from the top of the stairs to see his eyes following her ascent. He flicks a mandible before turning to leave, presumably to find himself limited and frustrated by more paperwork.

V.v.V.v.V (Just FYI, imagine Saren without the robot arm and tubing. It was an oversight by Bioware and he wasn't supposed to look like that until the end of the game. That appearance will play a part later.)

"Well that could have gone better." Jane silently agrees with the Gunnery Chief's irritated statement as she looks upon the defeated faces around her. They had gotten their asses handed to them and that was putting it lightly.

The Spectre's massive hologram easily swayed the Council without having to ever directly address his supposed crimes, instead making her and her team look like they were completely incompetent. Despite his blatant hate towards almost everyone around the Chambers, Jane could see the man was definitely charismatic enough to sway their opinion.

He expertly picked at every sore spot the Ambassador and Anderson had, knowing full well the negative reaction he would get and how the Council's view would change with each outburst. He made sure to note the beacon's destruction, Nihlus' death when serving alongside them, he and Anderson's supposed past, and the shared dislike of many for humans' ambitious behavior.

Of course, when Anderson let slip the beacon's vision, their entire case went out the window as insane ramblings. She had to hand it to Saren, he may be a complete asshole whose skull she wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet into, but he knew how to sway an audience.

She listens to the back and forth between the two older men, Udina laying sole blame on her Captain's presence and Anderson claiming their failure will lead to total destruction for their kind. A bit extreme of a reaction from both of them really, but she guesses that's typical for politicians who get tossed around by a projection. All in all, she knows they came in here with nothing more than a hope and prayer, but the failure still stings.

Jane interrupts before their conversation can become too heated. "We need hard evidence against Saren. On our way up here we met with a C-Sec Officer who was certain he could get more evidence if given more time." _I sure hope you were on to something, Garrus, and not just arguing with your superior._

"But we don't know where to find him," the Lieutenant at her back adds. Hopefully someone can come up with something because she's pretty sure she can't just waltz in C-Sec and pretend she's looking for a stranger she just met.

Like a saving grace, the Ambassador mentions a contact within the security force. Unfortunately the galaxy seems to be out to get Jane today because this 'Harkin' has also found himself suspended. _And surprise, surprise, he's a drunkard. What a break…_

Jane files the information for later with the following advice to call on a secret supplier of information, the Shadow Broker. If finding Garrus in a way that doesn't seem suspicious doesn't pan out, she has a backup plan.

When she turns to Anderson for lead, she learns that, under no control of his own, he is being taken out of the picture. 'He has a history with Saren,' the pompous Ambassador says, and despite her open objection to the Captain losing his control over this mission, she is overruled by the man in question himself.

Jane decides to take her team to see Harkin who, according to Anderson, spends his days in a dingy dive called Chora's Den. True, she may be doing out of a selfish want to see her husband again, but if he really does have information they can use, the decision will be beneficial.

She doesn't know where this bar is, so she leads her team to a transport terminal, inputting the location as her heart beats a little faster. _Damn Turian making me like a giddy schoolgirl all the time._ The three of them pile into the tiny cab, made smaller with their combined armor and weapons strapped on their backs, and hold on as the vehicle rises and moves to it's destination.

The bar is worse than Anderson let on, that's for sure, as Jane soon realizes it's the equivalent to a sleazy, dirty strip club. She has had plenty of experience in her life to be able to tell the skimpy outfits, dark lights, and reek of cheap booze point to something much more than a place for the view. There's a back room here where much more elicit behavior happens.

She lets the conversation between her two companions and brush past an angry Krogan go unnoticed as she quickly spots a man fitting the Captain's description and heads towards him. He's definitely the typical bad example of a cop with his numerous empty bottles and openly lecherous eyes scanning the room.

"Hey there, sweetheart." He leans back in his seat with an unsavory leer. "You looking for some fun? I love the soldier get-up, by the way." He obviously looks her up and down with a curl of his lip and Jane's skin crawls and her fingers clench. _Be nice, be nice… if he gives you a reason to look for Garrus then it'll be worth it. You've had worse than this…_ "You definitely got the," his eyes stop at her chest and her eyes narrow, "_assets_ for it. Come sit that sweet, little ass of yours down here with me, I can guarantee you won't find any better company."

"And I can guarantee I'll find better company with a pack of rabid varren in heat." _Just go easy until the guy gives you what you want and then you can go, just whatever you do, don't punch him with everything you got,_she repeats, a mantra for patience. _Just think of meeting up with Garrus. This is nothing to the option to get to chat with him, even if it has to look like a professional conversation._

"Ah, you're going to hurt my feelings if you keep that up." His leer widens and his eyes finally reach her eyes. "Luckily for you, working for C-Sec has given me thick skin. Offer is still open, sweetheart." He pats his lap, caressing it once before taking his drink from the table to take a sip.

_That's it._ Jane takes a threatening step forward. "Call me that one more time and there won't be anything left of you to complain about C-Sec." She tightens her fist and it glows a soft blue. A soft shuffle of feet behind her snaps her attention back to the fact that she's here with a team, and that they were all sent here to get information. She forces her fist to relax and her biotics to dissipate, but her body remains tense. "Just tell me where Garrus Vakarian is."

He throws his hands up in surrender, but she knows a guy like him hasn't learned the lesson and probably never will. "Hey, easy! Relax, okay. I was just having polite conversation." _Yeah right._ "So you want to know where the Turian is, huh? You must be one of Anderson's. He still stuck up on Saren? He let you know the little secret he's got hidden in his closet?" His eyes narrow and he drops his head in a scowl. "That's he's not the little_hero_ everyone takes him for?"

"Look, Harkin," she crosses her arms, hoping it'll help reign in her rising frustration. "I'm running low on patience and if you want to be able to walk out of here to go home to whatever shithole you call home, I'd skip the small talk and tell me where Garrus is."

"Oh ho ho," he jeers, "but everything falls together! Anderson used to be a Spectre, just like Saren. Only he fucked it up, lost the job and still blames it on the skull-faced fuck to this day. He's still got a grudge, you see, and he's using you as an errand girl to dig up anything he can use."

Jane exhales a deep breath and rubs at her forehead, tending to the building headache. _It's like this man wants to die…_ "Last time, Harkin. Where's Officer Vakarian?"

"Alright, alright." He sniffs and takes another swig of his horrid smelly swill. "I can see you don't want to play. You're loss… Garrus has been snooping around Dr. Michel's place. It's a med clinic on the other side of these Wards. Rumor has it he's going back there… though don't expect to get anything out of the hotheaded little prick, he's too interested in butting heads with the Executor to get anything done."

Jane scowls, quickly turning to leave as her fists pulse in blue light before she follows up on her previous threats. _Don't think anyone would miss him, but the small satisfaction wouldn't justify the consequences… Another time, Jane. Save it for a time where a huge weight isn't sitting on your shoulders… Damn, the crack of his bones would've been sweet, though._ She vaguely agrees with Williams' 'what an asshole' statement as they head to get a cab.

When there cab lands outside the clinic doors, they can vaguely hear the muffled sounds of shouting and distress. She looks to her companions, to make sure they've heard it as well, and nods a silent 'be ready if this goes south.'

The Lieutenant and Chief take position behind her, but the three keep their guns holstered in the small chance that they are misinterpreting the situation. The occupants don't notice the hydraulic hiss of the opening door as Jane is given the opportunity to quickly survey the situation.

True enough, Garrus is here, quietly making his way around a half-wall, his gun out and at the ready. She quickly dismisses the way that sight makes her insides clench and pulls out her own weapon, taking aim at the three thugs threatening the scared medical worker, who Jane assumes is the doctor.

The center most thug, the leader by his position before the doctor as he yells, hears the whirr of her squad's weapons as they expand and quickly grabs the woman, pulling her to his chest as a hostage and human shield before aiming directly at Jane. "Who the hell are you?!"

Seeing that all attention is now on Jane and her team, Garrus moves with fluid speed and grace, pulling out of cover and turning the corner and taking a single shot that flies over the doctor's shoulder and hits its target right between the eyes.

Jane quickly opens fire on the remaining three thugs, now disorganized and easy to pick off with a throw, followed by each team member taking a shot. Within moments they fall and she approaches Garrus and Dr. Michel as he helps her up off the ground where she dived for cover.

Once up and left to dust her clothes off, Garrus turns to Jane. "Perfect timing. Thanks to you, I got a clear shot at that bastard."

_I'll say. No wonder you're a sniper._ She's never seen him in action, but if this is usual of his skill then she has to admit his confidence is well earned. He acts fast and efficient, a damn good soldier and not just because of their private relationship. "That was a nice shot. You took him down kill and quick."

He nods with a mandible flick. "Sometimes you get lucky." _Yeah, luck. Cocky bastard._ He turns to the doctor. "Dr. Michel, are you hurt?"

She shakes her head emphatically. "No, no. I'm quite alright," she says in her thick accent. "Thank you," she turns to Jane, "thank all of you."

"Who were those guys," Jane motions to the dead bodies. "I take it they were here for a lot more than medical stims."

The woman softly strokes a hand against her ear length hair, seeming to try to flatten any wiry strands from her scuffle. "They worked for Fist. They were trying to scare me into not telling Garrus about the Quarian."

That gets Jane's attention. Such an odd person to be the target of a criminal organization just screams intriguing. "Quarian? What would this Quarian have that Fist would want so badly that he sent in a group to hold you at gunpoint?"

"A Quarian came into my office with a gunshot wound. She wouldn't tell me what happened and she seemed really scared, like she was running from something, or someone." She drops her eyes and shakes her head, her hand still shaky. "She wanted the Shadow Broker. Wanted to trade information for safety." She turns to Garrus with wide eyes. "I don't understand… I gave her Fist's contact… I thought he worked for the Shadow Broker."

Jane catches the subtle shift in plates that usually signals more frustration as he turns away from the doctor. "Fist works for Saren now. Pissed off the Shadow Broker too." His mandibles flicker in agitation and his eyes narrow. "Whatever that Quarian knows, it's enough to have Saren after her…"

"Then we find the Quarian," Jane decides. Garrus' eyes relax and she makes a split decision, let Anderson, and whoever else, complain later. "You want to take Saren down too, right?" He nods with a confused brow shift. "Join me and we'll take the bastard down." She, once again, ignores the huff from the woman at her back, the visible lax in tension he's had since the Council Chambers making her too happy to be bothered.

"We aren't the only one's going after Fist," Garrus says as they take their leave of the clinic and approach the terminal. "The Shadow Broker sent a Krogan bounty hunter to collect on Fist's head." She turns to him with a raised brow as the terminal calls in a vehicle, quietly asking to continue. "Odds are he's at C-Sec Academy… He always tends to bring attention to himself whenever he's here. I'm sure we can catch him before he leaves, see what information he has on Fist."

Jane agrees and sets their destination for the Academy, luckily finding an air car big enough to fit four heavily armed soldiers in full armor with some bit of comfort. By comfort, she only means not having to sit on someone's lap, but it's a step in the right direction.

She gladly sits takes the seat next to Garrus with the excuse of not wanting her squad to feel uncomfortable, which by their furtive glances is obvious. Their close proximity even allows her to brush her leg against his and feel the deep vibration he shares through their touch.

Thanks to all humans having bad hearing for low subharmonic, the two of them look like to soldiers packed into a tight bench seat and not two lovers secretly sharing a comforting press of bodies and devoted subvocals.


	4. Not Chapter 4 but a quick Intermission

**Just a quick FYI before we return to our regular Genesis broadcast: **

A request has come to my attention and since I have decided to go ahead with this, I want to give everyone equal opportunity.

If you would like to have an OC, big or small, mentioned somewhere in this fic, PM me and we can see if something can be worked out. I am, in no way, abandoning Garrus and Jane's relationship and they will still be the focus, but I'm more than happy to expand the universe that is ME. Take into consideration that I will offer my ideas to make them fit and how they will be important to the overall story. Also consider that they need to find a way into what has already been said, I don't really want to go back and rewrite since that isn't really fair to other readers. :)

I'm open for any suggestions and love to hear people's ideas and opinions. The next chapter is out soon!

-Squid


	5. Chapter 4

-Garrus-

He can smell the Krogan the moment they step off the elevator, even the lingering musk of three separate humans and his bondmate's sweet arousal. That and her coy little teasing in the air car had inwardly cursing the woman, but he thankfully had his armor, both natural and synthetic, to hide behind.

He's not complaining in any way for getting the chance to be with Jane - hell, watching her fight nearly had him pressing her to the wall – but he already saw the suspicion on the other woman's face. Her ire was practically visible in waves as they all rode the bright elevator down at its torturous pace.

"Lieutenant, Chief, a moment," his wife says with a wave, leading them a short ways away but still clearly in his range of hearing and line of sight. He makes sure to make a show of turning away to look like he's found interest across the large reception room while he waits for their return, keeping them within his peripheral.

The two humans share a quick glance of unease and confusion before they quickly follow and settle before her. "I need one of you to return to the ship while I test Vakarian's skills. Williams, I believe you still need to fill out some transfer papers or other with Pressly?"

The woman's eyes blink in confusion. "Ma'am?" She shifts her eyes over Jane's shoulders before returning. _Oh… interesting,_ Garrus thinks. "Permission to speak freely?"

"Hit me, Chief." Jane relaxes her pose, shifting her weight to one foot.

"Are you sure you should trust him? I mean, Saren's a Turian. What's to keep this guy from ruining our investigation to help one of his own?" The distaste is clear in her voice as she doesn't even seem to be trying to mask her distrust.

Jane sighs and he recognizes her air of exhaustion. _Guess this has been a constant thing._ "Williams, if we went around thinking that everyone is going to turn on us for their own kind at a moment's notice – even if they're a criminal – then we'd might as well assume they think we'd do the same." The two soldiers' brows lower in confusion. "What would happen if they said we'd support Wilhelm if he were alive and killing other species instead of other species?"

He doesn't recognize the name and doesn't have time to pull it up on his visor before the male inhales a sharp gasp. "That's a bit harsh, Commander."

Jane's shoulders shift in a shrug and she throws one hand up absently. "It might not be from their side… Look Williams, Vakarian was out to get Saren when we showed up to the Council Chambers – you saw him – so odds are, he wants this guy brought down just as much as we do. Besides, I want to see how this guy works in my team before I have to rely on him watching my back."

Though he knows they have to maintain an outward appearance of having just met, her words sting a bit and he can't help the hurt rumble and flicker of mandibles. He regains control on himself and sees the anxious woman relax some, nodding in acceptance to Jane's words.

"Aye, aye, Ma'am," she snaps out and straightens her stance. "I'll head back to the Normandy." She smiles. "Let me know when we're going back to the Council… Wouldn't want to miss the big show."

Jane's attempt at mirth is obviously forced, but he can tell the others do not see that. "I wouldn't think of denying everyone on the crew that opportunity… Get that paperwork done so Pressly will let you leave. He gets pretty worked up when his papers aren't complete."

The women laugh softly, but he can tell it feels stiff from both women, and leaves to take the elevator that leads to the docking bays. Jane then turns with a wave at the Lieutenant – Kaidan Alenko, he vaguely recalls – and returns. "Sorry about that." Her words are odd and distant but her shrug is familiar. "I just needed the Chief to follow-up on the ship. You're on right, now, Vakarian." She is stern and commanding, an oddly arousing thing, but her green eyes are soft towards his.

He nods sharply with a 'yes, ma'am' and takes his assigned place to her back right, the Lieutenant on her back left. She leads the way to the Krogan bounty hunter, surrounded by a group of officers and not intimidated in the least, and he takes note on how this position gives him a great view of her ass.

_Probably should get myself under control,_ he scolds himself. _But then, she shouldn't have started it on the way here._ He inwardly huffs in frustration. _Maybe Wrex's smell will help curb things… he certainly smells worse the closer we get._

Jane stops just beyond the circle of officers as he finally cuts off his thoughts, catching the ends of the conversation as the Krogan easily shrugs off his escort's threats, clearly not impressed by their imposed sense of control.

It's then that he notices their group and makes his way to Jane, nearly bumping shoulders with the officer before him as he leaves the man mid reprimand. The officer quickly shots out a commanding order to give the semblance of control over the disrespectfully Krogan, but the words fall flat with the truth.

"Do I know you human?" Wrex stands as close as he did to the officer, but, unlike his former opponent, Jane stands straight with authority and looks the Krogan straight in the eyes.

"Word is we find ourselves going after the same man." She shifts back and crosses her arms, a smirk clear on her lips. Why she feels so at home around Krogan, Garrus will never know. "Name's Shepard… How about we go halfsies on Fist? You can get the top half and I'll get the bottom… or you can take all of him…" Garrus fights the urge to rub his plates in frustration as she continues. "I don't really care so long as I get dirt on Saren."

"Hah!" The scarred Krogan tosses his big head. "I like you, Shepard." His eyes narrow slightly as he scans their group. His eyes land on Garrus and a small twitch of his lip makes Garrus' blood run cold.

_He doesn't… _Garrus has a moment of panic at the old Krogan's knowing stare, but Wrex returns to Jane and continues. "My people have a saying: Seek the enemy of your enemy and you will find a friend… Get whatever you want out of him because when you're done, I will kill him."

Jane shrugs, obviously not privy to the quick exchange earlier. "Fine by me." She moves to shake his hand but quickly points a finger into the Krogan's face, usually a mistake but he just smirks at the show. "And not a moment before… You ruin my chance at information and you'll be nothing but liquid Krogan and plates."

Wrex laughs heavily and takes Jane's hand, giving it a firm shake. "We're going to make good friends, Shepard."

Garrus isn't sure he likes the sound of that, _Jane and a Krogan being friends? As if she needs more cause to be reckless._

"Alenko," she turns to address him properly. "I'm going to need you to head to the Embassy, let Anderson know we are close to our lead. Tell him to get on Udina to get us a meeting with the Council… This is our break and I'm not letting the bastard weasel his way out of it again."

Garrus notes that Jane must feel more at ease around the Lieutenant than the Chief, her words are still an order but without the empty command typical from superior officers. He doesn't immediately recognize the sensation that runs through him at the thought, causing his plates to prickle, but soon finds its name when the man responds.

"On it, Shepard." He nods with a soft smile and makes his way to the elevator they had originally taken, Garrus' mandible flicking with his newly realized jealousy.

An odd little feeling, this heated flow of his blood at the thought of his wife becoming less of a superior and more an equal to this little man. He quickly dismisses the ire at the man's casual disregard for proper respect to his commander and reminds himself that Jane shows no signs of sharing the Lieutenant's affection.

"Well," Jane turns to her, now two, alien squad members. "How about we go get ourselves a scumbag?" He lets himself finally flick a mandible at her mirth when the Krogan lets out a rumble of a laugh.

Garrus thinks he can force himself to sting his nostrils with the Krogan's strong musk if his presence lets him and Jane relax more. It's not like their secret lasted very long under his scrutiny, even if his sense of smell isn't as advanced as a Turian's.


	6. Chapter 5

-Jane-

"It's really you… Wow! It's Commander Shepard!" Jane is pulled out of her thoughts by an enthusiastic voice at the top of the stairs leading into the shopping district of the wards from C-Sec.

Her steps stutter a bit at the wide eyed expression of shear awe on the blonde man's face, her companions' steps stopping quickly at her back and nearly bumping into her. Her eyes dart around the room, still mostly focused on this stranger so she can catch if he tries anything.

_What the hell?_ She turns to continue on her way to Chora's Den, keeping this oddball in her peripheral, when he calls out again. "Wait Commander Shepard!"

_Well, I tried…_ Jane inwardly huffs and turns her attention to the anxious individual, her two companions groaning softly behind her. _Trust me, I don't want to talk to this nutcase any more than you two do, so stop complaining._

"Wow, it is really you… You're Commander Shepard, the Hero of Eden Prime! I am so honored to meet you." He clasps his hands together with a loud slap and Jane fights her lips not to quirk up in confusion.

_What a strange man…Wait, Hero of Eden Prime? What's this guy smoking? That mission was a shit storm._ "Uh, hello." _Mister Weird and Creepy._ Her brow raises, hoping he'll spit out whatever he wants so they can leave this awkward situation and he drops his shaking hands.

"I'm you biggest fan, Commander… can I call you Jane?" She scowls and shakes her head firmly, making a good point to ignore the low growl from her husband. "Oh, uh, sure, Commander it is." His hands can't keep still as he chooses to shove them in his pockets instead. "My name is Conrad. Conrad Verner… They say you killed hundreds on Geth on Eden Prime!"

_Wow, wish I knew those people!_ she sarcastically quips in her head and nods for him to continue, hoping he can read her inner demand to 'hurry the hell up.' "Um… hey, I know you're probably busy and all." His eyes move to her two massive companions and her eyebrows lift with a head shake, a silent 'yes?' "Do you have time for a quick autograph?"

Oh, how she wishes she could roll her eyes and rub at her starting headache. Here she is, trying to track down a Spectre who has it out for all humanity and this guy wants an autograph. Despite what every voice in her head is screaming, she nods with an exhale. "Make this quick, I'm in a hurry."

"Oh!" He visually jumps. "Yes, yes. Of course! You must have so many big missions to go on-"

"Can we _please_ move this along, Verner?" She makes sure to force a polite demeanor through her clenched teeth. _Screw the Alliance and their 'be polite as your actions reflect on the whole group' attitude. Next person who can't get to the damn point and ask me something is getting an earful, and maybe a good smack._

He nods shakily and pulls a paper out of his pocket, handing it over. "Can you make it out to Conrad Verner, your biggest fan?" She looks up from the parchment with a scowl. "Or just Conrad is fine!"

She signs it, figuring she might as well be nice enough and not take his bad sense of timing personally. It's not like he knew they were on the way to take out Fist. "Here you go," she says as she hands the paper back, watching his surprised face as he sees that she wrote a shorter version of his original request.

"Thank you so much, Commander! I'll always remember this as the best day of my life!" _I wouldn't go there, buddy, but okay._ "Thank you again… I'll let you go back to saving lives!" He takes off in a rush and sends an energetic wave over his shoulder.

Wrex grunts. "I would've just shot him…"

She drops her shoulder and throws him a look. "Really? Just shot him outside C-Sec_and_ in front of a C-Sec officer?" She nods towards her husband, who's clearly unamused.

"Good thing you got the officer covered." Her condescending attitude goes out the window complete at that.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Her eyes narrow on the old bastard, but he just smiles and turns towards their destination. She takes a quick look at Garrus to see an exasperated look in his eyes as they follow the slowly moving Krogan.

She pulls her lips tight, but drops the subject to address the matter at hand and stomps up and past the Krogan to retake the lead he only had a half-ass hold of. Might as well let this conversation wait until she can properly rip into the Krogan because she's starting to connect the dots, though she wishes she didn't.

They approach Chora's Den and quickly notice the shift in sounds that are usual for a joint like this, the raucous laughter and talking is absent and gives the entire area around it an air of unease. She reaches back to her shotgun and her team follows suit without pause, the whir of the Krogan's own shotgun and the massive piece of machinery her mate calls a gun. Together, they have control of close quarters and long range.

The doors are set on a delay, probably to make easy for the occupants to know when enemies approach, and she takes one side, ordering Wrex to the other and Garrus beside her. Once settled, she quickly hovers over the control and lets it come to life.

The next moments are a blurr of bullets, tech, and biotics, as she turns the corner to take one sweeping side of the round room, while Wrex takes the other to corral their targets together.

She lifts thugs and hears the loud bang of Garrus' rifle echo a split second later, the body falling to the ground with a clean shot between the eyes. Wrex's laughs echo past the center bar with his single shots and sounds of full forced punches. When she spots one remaining gunman before a locked door, she forces him back, throwing him against the solid barrier. As he's dazed, she runs to stand above him, emptying one shot into his chest and ensuring he won't be getting up.

"Garrus, get this door." She orders, knowing he's better adept at hacking open the lock than she is. He moves with efficiency and speed as she and Wrex scan the room in case reinforcements arrive from the Wards.

She admits this round room with a solid center barrier was quite the disadvantage for Fist's men and gave them the perfect opportunity to flank them, but her team also has that same disadvantage now.

"It's done," Garrus assures with a step back as the door lights up with life, grabbing his assault rifle from his back. Jane nods and takes place before her squad. The door quickly parts and brings Jane face to face with the sight of two gun barrels.

"Stop right there. Don't come any closer!" Two scared men, clearly not guards and most likely just workers for whatever side businesses Fist's running. They clearly want nothing more than to get the hell out of here, but find their only exits blocked by three fully armed obstacles.

Jane shifts her hold on her gun, taking the sights off of them but knowing her two companions have not. "I don't think there are any union rules against you leaving a job when the boss is dead… Drop the weapons and you can go without any trouble."

Their guns quickly lower and they look at the figures at her back, their eyes wide. "We don't want any trouble… Here." They drops their guns to the floor with a loud clack. Jane shifts to the side and hears the shift in her squad's armor that signals their follow-up to her promise.

Once safely out of their targets, the two workers quickly rush past her group, the low swish of the door closing Jane's cue to move on. She motions her team on, ignoring another 'should have just shot them' from Wrex, and finds the final door holding them from their prize.

Of course, their last push wouldn't be as easy as a locked door, for the moment they enter, the spinning whir of turrets activating fills the small office and they scramble for cover behind the room's dividers. "Garrus, lay into those things with every bit of tech you got… Wrex, shoot to wound, not kill. We need info first, then you can have your kill."

Wrex grunts and affirmative and quickly switches guns as Jane peeks around the corner and throws a grenade at a turret's base. She pulls back into safety as it purrs to life, shooting at the now empty air.

Jane sets off her grenade and hears a loud yell. "Fuck you, you bitch!" The voice sounds off, like he's hit and she quickly glances around the corner.

Fist isn't visible, so she assumes he's down behind the center desk. She focuses a warp on the last sputtering turret and sending it into a rain of sparks. She holds up a fist, hoping her team can read the human sign to hold fire, and waits to see if Fist is just buying his time before popping out and laying down fire.

After a long pause and the echoing sounds of heavy pants and groans, Jane is assured Fist is incapacitated and leads Wrex and Garrus over, her heart beating faster at finally getting somewhere with this evidence collection.

Fist is laying on the ground in a pool of blood, his leg a mangled mess from having been too close to her grenade. He holds the limb desperately, trying to stop the bleeding, and Jane holsters her weapon. "Please, don't kill me! I surrender!"

Jane crouches down on one knee to glare straight into his shocked eyes. "You don't look so good… Tell me where the Quarian is and I'll call for a medical pickup." She grabs his chin to keep his head from dropping. "Don't… and I'll be calling a meatbus for the morgue, instead."

His breath speeds up. "I… I don't have her. I don't even know where she is!" Jane shoves his face away. "I'm telling you the truth!"

Wrex's heavy steps come up to her side. "You've had your fun, Shepard… Let me kill him." Jane sighs and stands up, her hands dropping in defeat, the soft rumble of amusement at Garrus' realization of their plow barely reaching her ears.

"No, no…" Fist throws a hand up. "I don't know where she is _right now_. That's what I meant… but I can tell you where to find her." Jane quirks an eyebrow. "She wanted to meet the Shadow Broker, would only give the information directly to him… but she doesn't know that that's impossible, so I sent her on a fool's errand." He smiles up at her, the thing causes her skin to crawl. "When she gets to the meeting point, Saren's men will be there."

She scowls and makes a show of looking back at Wrex. "It'd be smart to tell me where that meeting is…"

His leer drops. "The back alley here on the Wards! She's supposed to be there now… if you hurry, you can make it in time." He starts to shake, from just shock or that combined with fear she doesn't know, as he searches her eyes in a silent plea to let him life.

While he's distracted, Jane hears the sudden wish of hydraulics and loud eruption of a gunshot and Fist changes from being alive one second to dead in his own blood and filth. She _did_ tell the bounty hunter he could have his kill and she had all the information she needed, but what brought the frown of angry to her face was the splatter of criminal blood on her torso.

"What the hell was that?!" Garrus growls at the Krogan, his mandibles flicking and nearly charging. They all know she was close to Fist, too close for Wrex to have pulled a shotgun on him. "You could have shot her you thick heated ceveo!"

The Krogan chuckles, clearly not impressed but Jane spins, her eyes wide at the vulgar insult the likes of which she's never heard out Garrus' mouth. "Easy there, boy, don't get your plates up… I wouldn't harm your lady…"

"Enough!" Jane quickly draws their argument to an end before Garrus can get any more aggravated and well aware that Wrex is goading him on purpose._We'll have to discuss this later. Now's not the time._ "Shut the hell up, both of you. We need that Quarian." She shoves past them, quickly pulling out her shotgun at the sounds of movement in the main room.

The reinforcements are taken care of quickly, her fears that her team would be at a disadvantage on the other side of the round room's design quickly dissolved as they move in a silent harmony through their enemies. Once the bar is empty of anything living besides her crew, she quickly jogs to the alley where this supposed ambush is destined to happen.

They arrive to the red lit alley just in time to catch the young Quarian being approached by an armed Turain, a merc by the looks of his armor and guns. "Did you bring it?" he asks as he clearly enters the girl's personally space.

"Where's the Shadow Broker?" her young voice questions as she glances around, taking in the three other mercs going around her back. "Where's Fist?"

The Turian, his face covered in the image of a sharp skull, tilts his head and caresses against the hood of her suit to trail down her arm. _Great, another perv. What's with this place?_ "Patience," he purrs. "They'll be here… Where's the evidence?"

The Quarian's eyes narrow behind the glass of her helmet and she swats his hand away like the nuisance it is. "No," she demands as her shoulders stiffen in anger. "This deal's off, creep." She takes a quick step back, tossing a look over her shoulder at the assassin's companions, before diving to the side under the cover of a tech explosion.

Jane jumps into action, lifting the merc leader clear into the air as Wrex throws the three grouped together. The loud fire of Garrus' rifle marks one less merc as Wrex and Jane finish the two remaining on the floor with a warp and blast of shotgun.

It's at a sharp gasp that Jane spins towards the area the Quarian fled to, catching sight of three figures, one more than was there just a second ago.

The young girl looks like she was in the middle of pulling herself from the floor where she was rushed by the Turian merc leader, but he was stopped mid charge by a very unexpected obstacle. That obstacle being a sword-_wait, sword?_- held in the mysterious third figure's hands.

The merc gurgles before the figure drops him to the ground, unsheathing the weapon from his abdominal cavity. _Got him right in the soft spot of his armor, both fake and natural. I would've stabbed him somewhere else, but still just as good._ The figure's head turns to Jane and her squad and moves out of the shadows, revealing a hooded male figure in a long, black trench coat-styled suit.

They quickly pull up their weapons in silent threat and Jane scowls at the fact that she also can't see this man's face due to his smooth mask with mirrored goggles. _Doesn't this guy get hot? Or is this all about style?_"Drop it," she commands. "I bet my trigger finger is faster than your legs."

The figure nods softly and shifts his weapon so that it lays across his up-turned palms. He crouches down, remaining whatever counts as eye contact with Jane. "I mean no harm to you or the Quarian girl. Our goals are the same." He stands up and crosses his arms at his back.

The Quarian girl, obviously not sure who to trust, moves away from all of them to stand an equal distance from everyone. Jane quickly glances to her and gives her a quick check to see she's fine, a little shaken up and perhaps a bit pissed but fine. "That was a nice tech explosion. We heard you have evidence against Saren, evidence we could use."

The Quarian girl nods once, but still seems wary. "Who are you?"

"I'm Commander Shepard with the Alliance." Jane makes a show to return her sights to the mysterious stranger. "I have no clue who _this _is."

"I am Ilden'Ril." He politely says with a tilt of his head in greeting, though it falls less than friendly with him still being full clad in his hood and mask.

"Why did you help me?" The girl asks, moving a little closer to Jane, which she assumes is a good sign.

"Fist is not the only one the Shadow Broker is upset with," he vaguely answers and Jane's eyes narrow. _Riddles, why riddles?_

"Are you friend or foe?" Jane decides to end this little standoff right now as her patience to finally see Saren get his ass handed to him has grown short. Mostly because of the fact that the Quarian she's been searching for, and the evidence she holds, is finally found and a little because she can't wait to rip into the two juveniles at her back for their little 'show' at Fist's.

She hears a soft chuckle. "I believe I _did_ just lay my sword down."

"And _I_ believe you still have weapons on your back." She motions vaguely with her own gun to his person.

He nods in agreement. "True enough… I am friend." He opens his hands to the sides to show he has no weapons in his grasp.

Jane relaxes a bit, still aware enough if he tries anything, and clasps her gun to her back. Wrex does the same, but Garrus merely lowers his rifle and keeps his eyes on their visitor. Jane then turns to the Quarian. "I need your help miss…"

"Tali." She holds a hand to her chest. "Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. And I'd be more than happy to repay you for saving my life, but I can't give you the information here." She looks around the alley, at the destruction and dead bodies of assassins. "We need to go somewhere safe."

Jane smiles. "The human embassies are safe. Besides the Captain and Ambassador will want to hear this." She motions towards the exit and Tali moves, but Jane quickly stops short at mysterious figure's move to follow. "Wait up, you may say your friend, but what makes me think you aren't going to just take this information and run?"

"I am not an information broker. I am an assassin." Jane startles at his open honesty. "I seek the same target as you and it seems like our cooperation would be beneficial."

_He's got a point… and he helped out Tali… and he laid down his weapon in a sign of solidarity._ Jane sighs and nods. "Alright… Ilden'Ril? You said?" He nods as he picks up his sword, wiping it before sheathing it away. "Yeah, pretty sure I won't be able to remember that, so don't take offense. Can't really give a name to a face," she motions in a circle around her own features, "you know?"

Her only answer is a silent stare before he takes his leave, joining the Quarian as Jane and her squad follow closely behind on their way to the Embassy. _I'm surrounded by drama queens._

~A!A says: Ilden'Ril is an OC of ManLion. I liked the idea and always thought ME could use some more people in it's universe, so I went with it.

And 'ceveo' is a real Latin slang word. Naughty Garrus for using that, but want would you expect from a guy who just thought his wife would have been shot?


	7. Chapter 6

-Garrus-

_A Matriarch's helping Saren, mysterious Conduits with no purpose or location, god-like Machines that the Geth are hoping to 'bring back,' a mysterious stranger who seems to offer aid without question, a Spectre that kills his own, and a Krogan nearly killing Jane because he's too impatient, or stupid, to hold his fire._ All this runs through Garrus' head at with dizzying speed, but the most shocking isn't even all of this things.

No, the most shocking, though in no negative way whatsoever, is the fact that his wife, his bondmate, now stands tall as the first human Spectre. Jane Vakarain, the only person in the world he'd gladly put before himself, has accomplished the most distinguished title in the entire galaxy and he has the honor of standing beside her, even if he must force himself to show no emotion and pretend they are mere teammates.

Because of this, he holds back his proud smile and harmonics as the room falls still and the Council's words ring through the vast chamber. The collective breaths of the room including her team of mismatched species and skills and the politicians overlooking the proceedings in the balconies, catch in a held breath of anticipation as Jane looks around the room, taking it all in.

Her gaze locks back on the three Councilors and she stands confident and ready. "What are my orders, Councilors?"

He has to hand it to her, he knows she inwardly hates the pompous bastards but she still manages to contain her appearance of respect. He's always known her to be outspoken about anything, but seeing her know, he can definitely agree with her guarantee that she can 'play nice with the politicians' and her superiors.

"We're sending you into the Traverse after Saren." The Salarian Councilor crosses his arms and scowls. "As he is now a fugitive from justice, you are authorized to use any means necessary to bring him in. If all attempts to capture him fail, you must eliminate him without pause." The Councilor's face relaxes and he drops his arms to clasp his hands at his waist. "We have numerous leads for where he may be hiding. We will have our agents send you all of the information for your mission shortly."

Jane nods in acceptance and the Asari Councilor addresses the large crowd as a whole. "This Council meeting is adjourned."

At that, the tension of the room quickly disperses as the observers move onto other things and Jane turns to her superiors, a Captain that Garrus can tell Jane has great respect for and a slimy Ambassador that's the perfect human equivalent of barefaced. That man had all but had a heart attack when Jane walked into the Chambers trailed by their rag-tag group of soldiers, assassins, pilgrims, bounty hunters, and C-Sec officers, not to mention the fact that they all were every species under the sun. Garrus certainly had to reign in his temper when the asshole starting spewing insults at his mate, but luckily, Jane just lifted her chin and shut him up with a quick remark of 'do you want to take down Saren or complain about the people I associate with'.

"Congratulations, Commander," the dark Captain says with a smile and firm handshake. Jane returns his gesture with genuine mirth and a soft nod of gratitude.

The politician is less than pleased, it seems, as he crosses his arms defensively and cups his chin in thought. "We've got a lot of work to do, Shepard." Garrus' mandible twitches at the disrespectful tone and Jane's face falls. "You're going to need a ship, a crew, supplies…" he begins to list off.

"I have a crew," Jane interrupts with a terse motion to her collected team that stands further back on the platform. "I'm sure Anderson and the Alliance want to take out Saren as much as I do," she looks to who Garrus assumes is Anderson and the man nods, "so I think the ship is taken care of."

The Ambassador scowls, but Jane's Captain interposes into the conversation by turning to Jane and grabbing her attention. "You know, you know have access to the most advanced equipment and training all of the races have to offer. You should go down to the requisitions office in C-Sec before we take after Saren." Jane politely nods in agreement, but when she opens her mouth to speak she's once again interrupted, which clearly pulls a quick eye narrow before she checks herself.

"Anderson. Come with me." Garrus wants to roll his eyes at the authority this little man thinks he has over the two soldiers. _Obviously, things are different for humans than Turians. This kind of insolence would never go on in the Hierarchy without talons and teeth coming into play._ "We need to discuss this and I need you to assist me in setting this all up."

The Captain looks to Jane and they share a quick nod of farewell as Jane smiles warmly. _Seems she's in a better mood since Chora's now that she's on the trail of that bastard, Saren._ Once the two older men have taken their leave, the Ambassador's boisterous voice booming commands and thoughts through the Chambers as they go, Jane turns to her large group of supposed misfits from all backgrounds.

The other human woman, Williams, scoffs. "Bastard didn't even thank us for finding that evidence against Saren." Many of the other's murmur their agreement but Jane waves it all off in dismissal.

"Alright guys – girls," she quickly adds at Tali's head bob, which Garrus takes as a sign of confusion. "Odds are nothing is going to get done tonight as it's already well past mid-shift on the ship and I don't think supplies are going to be quick." She lays eyes on her human squad, the Lieutenant and Chief. "Alenko, Williams. I'm sure Anderson doesn't expect you two to be on duty until we leave, and you don't have shifts right now, anyways, so go ahead and take the rest of the day to see the sights. We have your contact pings so you'll know if anything comes up." She quickly pulls up her Omni-Tool before dropping it a second later. "If you don't hear anything by then, show up at 0600 tomorrow. Shift duty starts as usual then, whether or not the Normandy's ready."

They quickly salute with an 'aye, ma'am' and relax once she acknowledges the gesture. She dismisses the two and they softly send their thanks before they seem to take off like a pack of varren are at their feet. Jane softly shakes her head with a half-smile as her emerald eyes watch them go, turning to her remaining team members once they leave her sights.

"Wrex," she says as she squints and approaches the big Krogan. "I'm not paying you if you come along."

Wrex chuckles roughly and tosses a hand in her direction. "I'll work for you, Shepard, free of charge this once." He smiles. "Besides, Saren seems like a good hunt."

Jane smiles, though why, Garrus has no clue because he can't stand the idiotic Krogan. "Welcome aboard. Send me your contact ping," she lifts her Tool and he does the same, a quick transference of information. "Same rules I gave the other two goes to you. If you aren't at the docks by 0600 tomorrow – that's ship-time, by the way – we're leaving your sorry ass behind." She holds up a hand to silence any objections. "I just sent you the ship's clock so you can't use that excuse." Wrex grunts in a half-heartened harrumph and takes his leave.

"Now, Tali," Jane addressed with a warm smile. Garrus could tell the moment Jane talked with the woman while they waited in the Embassies for their hearing, that there was an instant spark of comradery. It actually made him happy to see her so at ease with someone she just met and hoped the girl gave Jane a good answer to the question he knew she was going to pose. "How about you join us against Saren?"

Tali's bright eyes widen in surprise behind her mask. "You would take me on your team?"

Jane snorts in good mirth. "Hell yeah. If you can take down a Geth and still get to its memory core before it fries, then I'm sure blasting holes in Saren's Geth will be a walk in the park." Tali's eyes shift, one eye squinting in confusion. "I mean it'll be easy… sorry, I sometimes forget and let out a few idioms. What do you say?" Tali shifts uncomfortably and wrings her hands. "What if I bribed you with the promise that I have an awesome ship? You said you're interested in ship tech… I mean, if it doesn't interfere with your Pilgrimage and all."

The young girl shakes her head emphatically. "No, this won't affect my Pilgrimage. We are taught to put others before ourselves, to help for the greater good, and if I let you go without me after you so kindly offered, then I wouldn't feel right going back to the Flotilla." She looks up to Jane's eyes. "Thank you, Shepard. It would be my honor to join your team."

The two women seem to smile, Jane's face lighting up at the news and Tali's eyes narrowing in shared mirth. They quickly link Omni-Tools as with Wrex. The girl then moves away, but doesn't leave the group as Jane approaches the last of her collected group, the strange assassin that refuses to show his face.

"Well, Ilden, you've been awfully quiet since we dragged you out of your shadows, but you have kept at your word of being friend, so the offer is the same for you as everyone else so far. I don't really have something I can bribe you with, but the Normandy is abnormally dark all the time, so there's that." Jane scratches at her cheek before shrugging. "What do you say?"

The hooded figure nods softly before Garrus' wife before speaking. "My skill are better utilized in the shadows that exist on this station." Jane's chest rises and falls heavily and Garrus sees she's fighting not to sigh in frustration at the man's vague statement. "I do not trust this _Council_ will remain true to their words of having no loyalty to the rogue." He crosses his hands at his back and Jane's brow rises in question. "If you will allow me, I can stay here to relay information I may find that may prove useful in case my suspicions are proven true."

Garrus has to hand it to the shadowy figure, though it may seem paranoid, they are going after someone who was once the Council's favored Spectre. Added to the fact that Jane is the first of a species that most look down upon as being too forceful for control, they could use the help. To have him here to keep an eye on the politicians to make sure they are remaining true will also keep him off the ship and out of Garrus' need to keep watch on the noted assassin.

He knows the name Ilden'Ril and he knows it well. The name is seen on many cases of homicide in C-Sec, and presumably all over, where an influential individual in society is usually found dead in their homes or workplaces.

What makes the cases all unique is the fact that each person is revealed to be corrupt by a flood of their personal files throughout the extranet, right around the time of their death. The hacker that takes blame for both actions goes by Ilden'Ril, and though he's technically making officers' lives easier by taking out those they can't get a charge to stick to, he doesn't feel like he can completely trust a man who won't show his face to supposed allies.

His wife nods, drawing Garrus' attention out of his thoughts, and twists her lips in thought. "You're right. Who's to say they'll put humanity's need for justice over their golden child. Good idea." She frowns. "How are we to remain in contact? I'm pretty sure it'll be suspicious if I get messages telling me the Council's being naughty." She smirks at whatever thought her statement brings to her mind and Garrus' mandibles flicker at her seeming to grow more at ease now that she has something to go on with her mission. He also makes sure to ignore the little fact that she seems to be warming up to the worst people, that's a thought for another day.

The assassin pulls his hand to between them, his Omni-Tool coming to life with an orange glow. "I will send you a special encryption protocol and only access you in a message system that pings through multiple comm channels."

Jane shakes her head and quickly raises her Tool to interface with his. "Don't bother with the tech talk, I won't get a single word." Their info transfers and she drops her arm. "Just send me whatever dirty secrets the Council's hiding that might affect the mission."

He nods and Jane moves to the last of her team with a soft and knowing smile. "Officer Vakarain," she says with a hint of laughter in her voice, obviously trying hard to maintain the air of strangers. "It's only right that I offer you the same choice as the others," she glances over her shoulder to check that the others, the assassin and Tali, as far enough away conversing about something, "but I think you probably have to get back to your police work." She smirks. "I wouldn't want to take an officer of the law away from his duties."

Garrus hums and steps closer, still at a safe distance to maintain their act if only someone doesn't hear their low words. "I think I can convince my superiors that taking down Saren is more important." His mandible flicks at the spark of excitement in her eyes. "I _was_ given the case on him, after all, and it'd be awfully careless of me not to follow-up on it."

Jane gasps softly and searches his face, trying to determine if his words ring true. "You really think you can get leave?"

He snorts with a low rumble. "If I can't, I'll just take it anyways. What are they going to do?"

Her lips tighten and she tilts her head, one eyebrow raising, and he fights not to laugh. "Oh, I don't know… Fire you?"

"Then it's a good thing I have a wife who's a Spectre now, huh?" He shrugs and she drops her mouth in open shock before clicking her tongue.

"Now I'm starting to wonder if bringing you along is even worth it." She crosses her arms and turns to leave. "Come on, before I see the error in my ways." He gladly follows at her back with a soft purr and catches her eyes as she looks around with a quizzical look, seeming to search for something.

He quickly scans the room and picks up a voice, urgent and demanding, coming from the level below them. Jane motions Garrus to follow and she takes the steps two at a time, taking a sharp right at the bottom.

That's when they then see where and who the voice is coming from. An older human male dressed in the formal attire he's used to seeing on Alliance officials in the middle of a conversation, his hand to his ear, and pacing as his apparent tension seems to rise.

"No. I'm waiting to speak with one of the Councilor's assistants." He huffs as his body stiffens in effort to try to remain calm. "I've been put on hold by five other operator, already. No, I do not want to file a complaint on that right now, just get me an assistant." He balls his free hand into a fist and groans, making Garrus guess they put the man back on hold.

"Is something the matter, Sir?" Jane approaches the man with a straight pose, showing respect.

"Ah, Commander Shepard." He gives Jane's hand a shake and she relaxes. "Congratulations on becoming humanity's first Spectre. I'm certain you can show the Council humanity is up to the challenge." Jane crosses her hands behind her back. "My name is Admiral Kahoku. Frankly, I'm glad the Council finally showed some respect to the Alliance and took in one of ours. Maybe with people like you around, we can actually get someone to help with our problems."

Jane's head tilts slightly in confusion. "Problems? I'm not sure what you mean, sir."

He scoffs. "I'm being stonewalled by bureaucratic assholes. Nothing new, but this time it isn't just me that's being effected." He stands straight and crosses his arms, his eyes tense in withheld emotion. "My men, one of my recon teams has gone silent. They were investigating some strange activity we picked up in the Traverse." He drops his arms and his shoulders sag on an exhale. "They've been silent for over a day, not even a ping off their systems, and I can't get clearance to send in a team to check it out. It's suddenly classified and considered a restricted area and they don't even have the decency to tell me why."

"And since Spectres don't have those same restrictions you'd like me to look into it?" Jane easily catches on to the man's plan and Garrus inwardly smiles at the Admiral's widened eyes.

"Actually, yes… yes, I would. I've been running out of options and expecting I'd never get answers." His eyes drop and he softly adds. "I understand you may not find the best answer out there, but I'm sure their families would at least like to have some closure."

"We'll find them, Admiral." Jane exclaims and easily waves his thanks off as duty with a smile. Once his attention shifts back to his search through official channels, Jane motions Garrus to move and they walk back to the stairs to descend.

They quickly glance back up the steps and see Tali still speaking with Ilden at the base of the podium before the Council Chambers. "Think she knows him?" Jane asks. "More than we do, anyways?"

"Hell if I know," Garrus dismisses. "Frankly, I don't see how you can trust the guy."

She frowns over her shoulder. "It's not that I trust him. I wouldn't choose him to watch my back over you - and the same goes for everyone on my crew - but I can't go around keeping everyone at a distance without a chance to gain my trust. If I did that, I'd never have gotten past our first encounter." They reach the elevator and she waits until he joins her before presses the command.

Once it begins its descent, she turns back to him. "He's not on the ship, so he can't technically do anything to interfere with our mission. If anything, he may be able to offer insight that we won't get out on the field. Your people have your own sense of distrust for politicians, so I would've assumed you would see the logic in his offer."

Garrus sighs, defeated and completely in agreement with her thoughts. "Just… just be careful, Jane." He cups her cheek, knowing it's safe to do so while they still ride the lift alone. "You trusted Wrex and he's almost shot you without a moment's pause."

"Oh, yeah, that reminds me." She grabs his hand from her face and moves closer. Garrus thinks she's fixing to do something that'll get them into the same trouble that got the Krogan to easily catch onto their little secret, but all those thoughts, and even some saying 'fuck, it, let the Krogan gloat', go out the window when she flicks his lower nose plate hard.

"Ow!" Garrus jerks away and slaps a hand to his, now throbbing, nose. She managed to hit where two plates interconnect and leave the hide below extremely sensitive and when he sees her angry glower and crossed arms, he knows she was fully aware of her target. "What the hell was that for?"

"Hmm, let me see." She pouts a lip and lifts a finger to her chin in mock thought. "How about going off on Wrex? _Ceveo_, Garrus? I don't even know what that means, but odds are it wasn't good if all my translator did was fizzle and spit out a robotic version of your voice. Hell, if it did that, I don't think I want to know." She points a figure in his face and his mandibles twitch in aggravation. "What makes it worse is you don't even seem to be trying to keep us a secret! Even someone like Wrex can see your outburst for what it was, he's not stupid."

Garrus grabs her clenched hand in his face, wanting to get his words out fast as the lift starts to slow in signal that it is at the end of its path. "Jane, Wrex already knew and it didn't have anything to do with what we said or acted like."

His mate's eyes widen and head jerks in confusion at the same time the lift finally hits its destination. He drops her hand with a soft sigh. "I'll explain everything when we aren't out and can be overheard." He moves behind her to retake their formation developed during battle.

Her eyes are still confused, but she nods over her shoulder in understanding and takes the lead. They exit the elevator and he catches her begin to take them towards the Academy, presumably to see if he can, in fact, take leave to join her mission.

Garrus quickly sees Jane's head perk up as she overhears an exasperated voice coming from the Presidium square ahead. "I've already told you before, you're not allowed in here!" She immediately changes course to investigate and Garrus can't help but rolling his eyes at her trademark curiosity.

She leads him to a Hanar and young C-Sec officer, the one trying to maintain order as the other spews prophetic hymns to anyone who would hear. Garrus feels for the Turian, he knows full well the pain caused by evangelicals like this Hanar who refuse to follow the strict rules and the hassle of being the officer put with the task of trying to explain those set rules.

"Is there something wrong?" Jane's curious, yet stern, tone cuts each person off and their attention to her little form. "Has this Hanar done something wrong, Officer?" She turns to the officer.

Garrus knows her distrust for law enforcement runs deep, and usually she'd be at the Hanar's defense immediately, but he thinks that their time spent together has helped to temper her strong views. He feels proud to look back and see that he had such a big part in helping her overcome that hurdle built from years on the other end of the law.

"This Hanar," the officer motions, "refuses to listen to reason." He huffs in frustration and Garrus hears the low hum of exhaustion in the air. _This argument must have been going on for quite some time._ "How am I supposed to convince my superior that I deserve to be put on patrol if I can't even convince this annoying jelly to leave?"

Jane snorts and tilts her head, the Hanar obviously not hearing the conversation as it turned its attention back to preaching. "Going to go with the jellyfish insult, huh?" She takes in the Hanar. "This is about that permit thing right? Where people can preach so long as they follow rules and sign up with the Citadel?" The officer's eyes widen in surprise at her knowledge, Garrus' mandible flicking in a soft smile that she remembers at least some of the things he says, and nods quickly in a yes. "What if I convinced it to leave? You can take the credit, don't think I'm cut out for C-Sec anyways…"

"If you can succeed where I cannot, then you are free to talk to it." He waves Jane off in his frustration and Garrus can't help the quick reprimand in his vocals. The officer quickly adjusts and stands away from Jane, having been caught on his disrespect towards a higher ranking person. His eyes connect with Garrus' in quick submission and Garrus' vocals stop in acceptance.

"Do you desire to learn of the Enkindlers?" The Hanar asks politely to Jane, his body bobbing in slight excitement before its luminescence dims. "Or has the honorable C-Sec officer enlisted assistance?"

Jane's brow lifts. "You do know you're not allowed to preach here, right?" The Hanar bobs, about to interject when Jane holds a hand to still it. "Look, you may not view it this way, but you are breaking the law. Whether or not your religion thinks and says differently than the law, your actions and refusal to follow the rules as everyone else is only succeeding in the bias that Hanar are zealots who think they're above the law." She sets her hands on her hips. "You think the Enkindlers would be happy about that?"

The Hanar's form stutters and its colors flash in confusion before it exclaims. "This one does not wish to prejudice the listeners against the Hanar!" Its form droops in defeat. "This one will obey the laws set forth and required by all. This one departs now and will no longer bother or intrude upon this part of the Presidium again." The Hanar then turns away from their group and slowly takes its leave.

Jane turns to the C-Sec officer with a proud smile and motions. "Looks like that's that. That'll be 50 credits." The officers blinks in confusion and she huffs. "Joking… it was a joke. The Hanar won't be preaching here anymore."

"Thank you, ma'am." His eyes shift to Garrus behind her, but Garrus' attentions are distracted as he shifts impatiently to go home and be alone with Jane and not under the guise of professionalism. "Here, I can't give much, but you have helped me. Now, I need to return to my superior."

At the end of the conversation, Garrus returns to the present as Jane turns to him. "Seems like being friendly with officers on the Presidium is a thing with you – and with Turians, no less. Should I be worried about this?" He lifts an eye plate and flicks a mandible.

Jane smirks and scoffs in the back of her throat. "Now that you mention it, you are getting old." She turns to watch the other officer's retreating back. "I could always go for a newer model…"

"That's enough, you." He growls with mock jealousy. "Come on before you make me make a fool of myself."

She takes off again, but not before throwing him a knowing smile. "You mean you haven't been doing that already?"


	8. Chapter 7

-Jane-

Jane decides to first run by the Normandy to pick up a change of clothes. Sure, she has plenty to wear at their apartment, but none of it is Alliance issue and she really doesn't feel like squeezing into dirty armor tomorrow morning.

The blood from earlier where Wrex splattered her with bits of Fist has since caked on and won't come off unless she puts it into one of the ship's pressure washing chambers, so she's definitely sure she she'd rather wear civvies back to the ship come 0600.

"Garrus," Jane turns to him with a smile. "Go ahead and make sure everything's in order for you with C-Sec when we get there. I'm going to rush to the ship really quick and grab a pair of BDUs so I don't have to put this on tomorrow."

He hums in agreement as they take the elevator from the Presidium to the Academy, parting to go his own way to what she presumes is the direction of his superior's office. She follows him until he turns a corner and loses her, sighing in exhaustion before taking the opposite lift to the ship.

Arriving on the docking bay is almost creepy as the only sounds are the low hums of the dock's shielding and Normandy's idling systems and they only living being beside herself is the diligent Keeper in the distance. She stops at the railing and looks out across the still rooftops beyond the shimmering shield of atmosphere, seeing the lights flicker like tiny, synthetic stars.

With a deep breath, Jane shoves from the metal barrier and walks into the airlock, chewing on her lip in boredom as it cycles through its decontamination protocol. Once done, she passes the cockpit, the pilot still glued to his chair as he bobs his head to whatever he's hearing from the earplugs in his ears.

She walks through the nearly empty CIC and takes the ramp down to the next level, taking a sharp turn towards the crew quarters. She easily finds her bunk as it seems to have a different air of the others, most likely caused by the crew's subconscious need of separation from their XO but she doesn't really mind.

She opens her trunk of personal items and pulls out a shirt, pair of pants, and her combat boots before slamming it shut to pull out the small drawer at its base. A small duffel in folded neatly in this and she quickly pulls it out and shoves her clothes into it before throwing it over her shoulder.

She gives the pilot a polite wave when he notices her leaving and steps into the airlock to run through the decontamination for a second time. She doesn't stop to enjoy the view this time as she makes her way back to the elevator to wait downstairs for Garrus.

Jane listens lightly to a news article over the elevator's speakers about colony enrollment or other because of Eden Prime and shakes her head. She can understand the need to break the monotony of the lift's ride, but this is just depressing. First she heard a story earlier about some dirty CEO being murdered in his home without his aid knowing and the universe then finding out the guy was purchasing slave labor on the side, then this story.

_Who thinks this is more preferable to plain old elevator music? And what's next? 'Puppy found kicked by owner. Images to come of its hurt eyes at 10?'_ Jane rubs her forehead in annoyance at the sense of whoever chooses the stories for the lifts and doesn't hesitate to take her leave the moment the doors swish open.

With no sign of Garrus in the lobby, Jane sends a message saying she's heading to the requisitions office to pass the time. With luck, she can get some weapons and armor for the group to use once they head out for Saren.

After a short, but slightly heated, exchange to ensure she really was a Spectre as claimed, the brown plated officer with cream colony paint quickly accesses the special reserves with an apologetic trill to his voice and gives her privacy to browse. She finds a pistol, sniper rifle, and tech amp that all surpasses any of her team's equipment. A quick calculation tells her she can get all three, but anything else is out of the picture as she'd be pretty much broke.

Figuring that at least three of her squad will getting updated equipment will give them an advantage in a fight, she doesn't hesitate and places the order. The officer's terminal chimes with the purchase and he stands.

"I'll get those for you, ma'am," he nods politely before walking to a locked cabinet in the back of the room. _The guy's nice enough, didn't blow me off once he found out his mistake, even if I wasn't completely innocent on my end. Even did that little chirrup of regret that Garrus is embarrassed to be caught doing._

He brings the equipment out for her to inspect. "If you find these to your liking, we can have them sent up to your ship." Jane quickly scans over everything to make sure there are no flaws or nicks in the metal that sometimes comes from manufactured goods. _Sure, this is supposed to be the best of the best, but you can never be too careful._

She nods to him in an okay when everything checks out and he places the items aside. "Is there anything else I can do for you, ma'am?" _Almost strange to talk to a Turian who's polite and not either an ass because he thinks I'm human scum or an ass because he's my insufferable husband._

"No, I'm good." She quickly remembers something he said earlier. "Oh, hey." His posture stiffens at her strange call and he stops mid sit at his desk, his mandibles flicking in confusion as he stares at her. His distress is distracting and Jane quickly pushes away the thought that his flapping plates remind her of spinning chocolate. _God, I'm hungry if I'm seeing people as food like old cartoons and ripping their asses for doing their jobs._ "You talked about acquiring a license for my ship so I can purchases things without having to come all the way back here," she says with a soft smile of assurance.

His plates immediately calm and he continues his motion to sit. "Yes, ma'am. Here." He types into his terminal and the kiosk lights up again.

She quickly reads the information on the screen to make sure it's what the Normandy's requisition officer asked for. Luckily for him, she also had just enough to get it. _Good think the food on the Normandy doesn't have to come out of my pocket or else I'd be eating bread and water… I'd never survive come to think of it._

She chuckles inwardly at the thought of humanity's only way to take down Saren dropping dead from starvation because she couldn't afford her dinner. When the officer assures her that the license will be included in her shipment, she nods a thanks and leaves. As she's taking the stairs back to the main lobby she feels a soft vibration of her Tool, but ignores it as she sees Garrus standing near the transport terminal, waiting for her.

"I take it that was you messaging me?" Jane smiles as she approaches. He grunts a yes and she squints at him. "What's up with you?"

He exhales deeply. "How about we go pick up some drinks, take them home, and I'll tell you all about it." She shrugs an okay and he motions her to the exit that leads into the Lower Wards.

Once they turn the corner and enter the long, empty hall wall before the elevator, Garrus takes her bag from her shoulder. Despite her tightened hold, he easily pries her stubborn fingers from the strap and swings the back over his back. Granted, she would have put up a bigger and more convincing fight if she wasn't already worried about the tired look in his face. If he wanted this, she'll let him have it, but she is definitely getting him to talk when they are in private.

Right before they get to the elevator, a figure chuckles from the shadows. "So it really is you." A familiar face steps out and her mouth slackens at the flood of memories, none of them good, come flooding in. "I didn't believe it and now I'm eatin' my words."

"Finch," Jane nearly growls. She remembers this man well, even if he's aged. _And aged badly, too. Guess this is what the drugs would've done to me if I had gone cold turkey when I did._

Finch was the Reds' biggest dealer in Blue Sand and he did his job well, using kids to peddle out on the streets for little to no cut and all the risk of getting caught. She remembers punching him right before heading off to the military and breaking his nose and by the looks of the crooked line of it, her memory serves her well. He was once probably a decent looking man, but his face is gaunt from used and his skin has a sickly pallor.

Garrus is feeding off of her tension but she holds a low hand out, grabbing his attention enough that his low growl dissipates. The last thing she needs is for him to take out whatever stress he's got on Finch because he's channeling her own anger.

"What do you want?" she demands with little love for the man of her past.

Finch investigates his hands and makes a show of inspecting his grimy, yellowing nails. "Oh, just wanted to see if it was true. That the Shepard of the Flock went again made a name of herself by being a good little soldier."

She scowls at the old name the Reds once taunted her with because she grew to be the confidant, the only available support, for her fellow dancers –most of the prostitutes looked to her too – even if they surpassed her in years. She is not proud of what she did and though she's told Garrus what her life was like, it's not like she wanted all her dirty laundry out in the open again. It should stay where she put it, damn it.

Her fists clench. "I don't have time for you, Finch. Get the hell out of my way, I'm not some stripper you can gawk at anymore."

"Oh, but don't you want to help out a friend in need?" He looks up to her with a dark leer. "You may not remember your loyalty used to be with the Tenth Reds. After all, the vids all seem to skimp over that little bit of information." He pointedly looks at Garrus. "You know this guy, Shepard?"

She looks over her shoulder, her eyes asking him to follow along. "Officer, I need you go back to your superior and tell him I don't need a damn escort. I can damn well walk myself to the warehouses for my investigation." _Good lie of a story, now if only Garrus will catch on._

The building irritation in his eyes clear a bit at the realization of her words and he quickly changes approach. "Yes, ma'am." He quickly salutes before turning and taking off towards where they had just come. Sure, it's not the best lie and has shit tons of questions, but usually the simplest lies are the easiest to believe. _Good enough to trick this idiot, I'm sure._

"You going around with the law, now?" Finch shakes his head and clicks his tongue. "Guess it goes with being Spectre, huh? Have to play nice with the_aliens_…"

"Threat still stands, Finch. Spit it out." She crosses her arms, not really wanting to know what he's up to and not really caring to, but she always seems to be a slave to her damn curiosity.

"It's Curt Weisman." Her eyes narrow at the name. _Another ghost from my past, great._ "I think you would remember him, used to run the gun business out of the basement of Heaven's Night. Turns out he got picked up by Turians… If you can talk to the officer in charge of his imprisonment, you know use some Spectre privilege, the Reds will definitely remember it."

Jane's brow lifts. "You want me to break him out? You're joking, right?"

"No," he drones with raised hands, palms out. "I'd never ask that. Wise just got caught with some Red Sand, nothing really big, but you know how Turians are, making a big deal about everything, beating on the little guy for nothing. We just want you to use a little pull to get them to drop the petty charges." He crosses his arms and sneers. "We heard you have pull with the anything with scales or tentacles and we want you to use it to help out an _old friend_."

Jane's eyes narrow and she searches his posture for the truth. She knows this sounds suspicious, but what part of it exactly that doesn't fit, she can't place. "No promises, Finch. If Weisman _is_ only guilty of Red Sand possession then I'll figure something out for him." She won't go as far as to actually get him released with no consequence, but doesn't need to know that. "I do this and I'm through. Next time someone comes with a favor and threatens me with my past, I won't hesitate to shoot them in the knees."

He tells her that he was watching the officer earlier hanging out in a dark little bar on Shalta and gives his description, a sandy brown with white markings on his chin, mandible, and brow plates. She leaves back to the Academy, both to collect Garrus and thank him for playing along and take a shuttle to Shalta.

She tells him what they're after on the shuttle ride, knowing he respects her privacy too much to intrude and ask. He doesn't really say much besides the fact that it seems odd her former gang mate was arrested solely for drug possession. "If he was selling, then that's different, but possession of a personal amount is only grounds for a hefty fine, not imprisonment." He scoffs. "Definitely not cause to extradite someone."

"I'm just as suspicious as you are." Jane confides. "Even if I ran with them as a kid, I don't owe them anything and I certainly won't just use Spectre authority to get someone out if the circumstances smell funny."

"Then why even bother?" Garrus turns to her, his vocals buzzing in frustration, as the car lands and doors release. "What's the point if you don't even want to get him out?"

She sighs dejectedly. "Because my damn curiosity will kill me if I don't." He shakes his head in disbelief, but she understands it's only because of the added stress to what he's already had since C-Sec. _I promise we'll take care of this quickly and go home to rest. You can even bend me over the table if it'll make it up to you, but I need to know. Hell, I'll bend myself over the table if I need to to make it up to you._

They enter the cramped little bar and easily spot the officer that is supposed to be Weisman's guard. He's just as Finch described and she makes her way to him.

"Can I help you, human?" He turns his head to look at her standing at his side.

"I like to know more about a prisoner you have, Curt Weisman." Jane grabs his attention by shifting as he tries to return to his drink, but he stops when he sees she isn't leaving.

"Yeah? And I'd like a lot of things." He takes a quick swig of his drink. "Desire forms the foundations of organized society. You still don't see everyone getting every little thing they want. What makes you any different?"

"How about the fact that she's a Spectre," Garrus growls from her side. The guard shifts back to catch Garrus over his shoulder and a silent match of wills seems to go on between the two. _Please, don't start a fight, Garrus._

The Turians sniffs with a mandible flick, looks away from Garrus, probably giving up on the staring match, and turns to Jane. "Even with your status, the xenophobe should remain in custody and I'd sooner die than let him go free. And don't tell me that isn't what you want because I know that's exactly why you're here."

_Xenophobe? Sooner die than let him go free? What the hell?_ Jane tilts her head in confusion and the guards brow plate lifts. "What'd he do?"

The officer shifts in his seat to fully face Jane, obviously intrigued in the change in her attitude from demanding to legitimately concerned. "He attempted to poison a ship full of medical cargo being sent to a Turian colony struggling against a deadly disease outbreak." He takes a drink and Jane can hear Garrus' low growl. "If he had succeeded, millions-"

Jane cuts him off with a raised hand, not needing to hear more. "I got it. Clearly, I was being played for a fool." His mandibles flicks in question. "Do you know if he worked alone? Did he have any accomplices?" His eyes narrow and she locks gazes, showing him she has nothing to hide.

"We think he was working in a group of two others, but he refuses to name anyone. Claims loyalty to whoever it is." He thinks a moment, as if debating. "We know the chemical they would've used spilt as they tried to escape and any other humans in his group who came into contact with in, as he did, would show the signs on their hands and any other skin it touched."

_Hands…_ "What would it look like?" At this obviously strange direction of questioning, he tilts his head in confusion. She vaguely hears Garrus hum in understanding, but he doesn't say more. "I have a sneaking suspicion I might have a lead for you, but I need to be sure." She softly quirks her lips in reassurance.

"Their nails would be yellowed and falling off after a certain amount of time. Their skin would be red and their veins enflamed." He squints, trying to recall anything else. "Odds are they'll be really uncomfortable if not treated."

_Now I have something to look for._ "Thank you, officer." She lays a chit on the table. "Next drink's on me for taking up your time." He doesn't speak, just looks at her with clear question in his eyes as she leaves him be.

They don't get more than a meter away before Finch rushes her, throwing a finger in her face. "Damn it! I knew you didn't have the guts to do it. We'll have you burn for this… Everyone in the galaxy will know that the _famous Commander Shepard_ affiliates with the Reds. That no alien is safe from you!"

_Yeah, good luck with that._ Jane lets him rant, his words falling on deaf ears as she quickly studies the hand jerking in her face. _Yellow nails, two or three gone and leaving bloody stubs. Red skin when the rest of him is sickly pale. Veins swollen like he's cut off circulation. And just in the alley he was constantly fidgeting with his hands. This bastard was in on it. Son of a bitch!_

Jane scowls and grabs his hand in her face, pulling a pained yelp and scream hybrid from his cracked lips, and pulls out her pistol. She points it at his toes and pulls the trigger, turning whatever toes he may have had into nothing more than a bloody pulp and splattering the bar floor with red. He screams and his body goes slack, dropping to the floor once Jane releases his hand.

_That was oddly satisfying,_ she thinks as she stares down at the man on the floor. Despite her association with a certain Turian, Finch needs to be taken down and charged. He tried to kill innocent people, well as innocent as Turian's can be anyways, and odds are, there were children in those numbers.

As far as Jane's concerned, children are off the table and instant grounds for her wrath. Too bad her sense made her see that Finch alive is better for the Turians to get justice than dead.

"Impressive, human." The Turian guard now stands at her side. "Any reason you decided to relieve him of half his foot?" He motions to Finch.

She holsters her weapon and turns to the guard, nodding over to Finch. "I suspect this is one of Weisman's accomplices. He shows all the signs on his hands of exposure to the chemical they were trying to use." She looks down at the whimpering body. "If I end up being wrong, you can just blame me and say I pulled the Spectre card."

He rumbles in good mirth. "Perhaps the first human Spectre will not be a disappointment as everyone fears."

Her brows furrow in puzzlement. "Uh, thanks?" He flicks a mandible and looks to Garrus, who rumbles in a soft tone she thinks is either pride or affection, maybe both.

After a silent exchange that Jane is one again not able to read, the older Turian drops his eyes to hers. "Goodbye, Spectre. Know you have thanks for your aid." She nods in farewell and he bends to pick up Finch by his elbow, dragging him out and most likely somewhere to be properly apprehended.

Her attention is pulled to her back by Garrus' chuckle and she turns to him with a questioning smile. "Regular saint for the Turian people, Jane?"

Her brow lifts. "What do you know of Saints?"

He smirks. "Enough. Come on." He motions to follow him out. "I'll willing to drink whatever we have at home as I'm not really in the mood to be out any longer."

"And I need to make it up to you for letting me drag you out to cater to my selfish desires." He snort at that but flicks a smile over his shoulder.

They get into a transport and take it home, finally taking the chance to press they bodies together and not have to worry about others seeing. "You still have to tell me what you meant by Wrex knowing about us."

He hums angrily. "Jane… You _do_ know Krogan can smell things like Turians can?"

She blinks rapidly and pulls away to better look into his eyes. "No…"

"Yes." He nods with raised brow plates, clearly well aware and not at all in the mind to warn her. She gasps and jerks back into her seat properly.

"Wow…No wonder the guy was constantly smirking like an asshole…"

He groans as the car settles outside their apartment complex. "Don't remind me."

They step out and head inside, but he's back in her space as soon as the doors of the elevator close them off from the world. "I know you're mad at me about the incident with Wrex and Fist." He runs a gloves talon through a lose strand that's fallen from the bun who knows how long ago. "But I'm not sorry for it. I can't sit by and watch someone put you in danger because of a stupid mistake or whatever that Krogan thinks he was doing." He lifts her chin to look him in the eyes. "It's hard enough for me to sit by while you run into danger, but at least then I can be on your six and make sure nothing happens to you." He drops his head so his breath ghosts over her forehead, warm and prickling against the since-dried sweat. "Don't expect me to be understanding of the things I can't account for."

She pants heavily against the hide of his neck and looks up to him, his body pulling back to allow her to lock gazes with his crystal blues. "Just… just try to, okay?"

His mandible flicks at the sound of the elevator arriving on their floor. "To try is all I can promise."

She nods in acceptance of what she knows is the truth and motions to follow, leading him to their home. The door opens and lets them into the warm air she's grown so used to and never knew she desired until waking up on the cold Normandy. She sighs and tilts her head back, just taking in the feeling of finally getting a chance to rest, to breath without having to keep up a show or help someone in need.

Garrus purr in appreciation and nuzzles against the bow of her neck, pulling a ticklish giggle at the soft grazes of his mandibles as he intentionally flickers them. She hears the soft thunk of something dropping and catches a glimpse of his ungloved hands moving to her front from the angle of her head.

He pulls her back against his chest and drops his head over her shoulder to rub against her armored shoulder, knowing she can't precisely feel it but giving her the sensation of the soft pressure. He hums in confusion and she hears the soft clink of his mandibles. "Jane, I don't know how to take this off of you."

She chuckles and covers his hands in hers, softly stroking against his ring he wears under his gloves and smiling at the fact. "Here," she lifts his hands and gives his right palm a soft kiss, "how about I take care of mine and you take care of yours," she kisses his left, "and then we can take a shower together and wash battle dirt off us."

He purrs and rubs once behind her ear with his face. "I like the way you think." He pulls away and she easily releases his hands to let him get to his task as she does the same.

In a flurry of snaps of buckles, zips of zippers, unlatching of clasps, and tugging off of undersuit, the two completely remove their armors. Garrus flicks a talon at her dog tags around her neck that she's taken to using to hold her engagement ring and lifts a brow plate.

"It doesn't fit in my gloves, so I put it on here," Jane explains.

"And people don't see it?" He strokes his hands along her upper arms.

She gives her head a soft shake. "Not really. I'd rather have them with me at all times than at my bunk." She grips the tags and ring at her chest and smirks. "This way I always have you by my heart."

He snorts. "Now who's being the hopeless romantic?"

She mock glares and swats him halfheartedly. "Jerk. Keep that up and I'll make you shower alone." She points in his face. "And you haven't told me what got you so upset at C-Sec."

He rolls his eyes and sighs. "It's nothing, now. Just some frustration with my father."

_His dad! Shit, his dad knows about me! He probably remembers me from that time at the movies!_ "Uh," Jane bites her lip. "What did he say?"

"That I'm wasting my life by following a Spectre. That I'll get nowhere in the shadow of someone who thinks they are above the law. Spectres are no better than criminals with the visage of authority. That this isn't the right way to take down Saren." He tosses a hand dismissively. "You think it and odds are he said some equivalent of it."

Jane frowns. "That bad?" She quirks the side of her mouth in a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry."

He shrugs. "I've given up on trying to make him proud. He either accepts me as I am or he doesn't. I'm not going to spend the rest of my life fighting for his approval when I'm not like him. Come on." He takes her hand and leads her to their bedroom. "Less talking, more… bathing." He looks over his shoulder with a smirk and she shakes her head, failing to hide her smile.

The good thing about the apartments shower is most definitely the rate the water gets hot. It reached the set temperature almost immediately and lets them get in and focus solely on how the water flows over their partner's plates or skin.

Jane licks up along the side of his keel bone, the water flowing down the crevice and into her mouth before she moves to his soft neck and sucking. He purrs and moves a hand to hold her head to his neck while the other cups a breast.

He flicks a talon tip across her nipple and she gasps. He does it again and twists the bud between his fingers, growling at her responding quickening breaths and soft moans into his cowl. She bites his skin, harder than her usual loving nips but not even to break skin, and his whole body jerks, his hide twitching in her hands at his waist.

Garrus lets her head go and dips his head to her. She lifts on her toes to lower the strain he has from trying to reach her shorter height and his free hand drops to her ass, pulling her in to rest her weight against his body.

She stutters at the demanding move, but his mouth quickly takes advantage as he uses his tongue to caress every sensitive area of her mouth, her tongue, inner cheeks, gums behind her teeth, and roof of her mouth. Before him, she never thought these places could give her so much pleasure, but now, she's quickly moaning hot breaths past his lips to intertwine with his own responding growls.

He releases her mouth and drops to her neck, his hot tongue licking along the rivulets of water. He drops to one knee, his hands around her waist as her shoulder drop to caress behind his fringe, and wraps a nipple with his prehensile tongue. She's glad he holds her as she feels electricity sap her strength and weaken her knees.

Of the various things this day has taught her, one makes a point to make itself well known in her mind. That fact is that she is damn sure the sight of Garrus with that gorgeous rifle of his and his flawless ability to get every target between the eyes, no matter the weapon, is going to be the death of her. She's already on the verge of her first orgasm and all he's done here is play with her breasts and kiss her, which, though absolutely nice, has never gotten her this worked up.

She's about to ask herself if he thinks the same when she hears his soft growl. "Do you know hot damn sexy it is watching you charge into battle? Even if another part of me cringes and has a panic attack each and every time." He shifts a hand and slaps her hard on the ass.

She gasps, her belly sparking at the sensation. _Definitely a favorite thing of his but I'm sure as hell not going to tell him to stop._ "I feel the same way," she pants weakly, looking down to him and pressing hard behind his fringe with one hand and gripping the center most spine. He growls and presses back into her hands, his dark eyes challenging.

She repeats the moves and he flicks an appreciative smirk. When he looks back down to her chest he hums in interest at the sight of the water flowing over her breasts and creating a little stream off her nipples. He opens his mouth, running his tongue along the underside and presses his bottom jaw under her breast so that the water follow the curve of her chest flows into his mouth.

She smiles at the interest he has it the water's course of her breast, like a miniature fountain, but it's short lived as he pulls the nipple between his lip plates and tugs sharply before letting the bud slip from his hold. She moans and throws her head back, not watching as he stands.

He spins them, presses her against the wall, and nuzzles against her neck as he rubs his hot member against her thigh. Jane pants and drops her hands to his cock, guiding him to her slick folds and shifting her stance to give him room to move closer.

He lays his hands against the wall and rumbles his own sweet music as she places his tip just within her grasp. Taking his waist in silent request to give her what she so desperately needs and desires.

With a deep growl, Garrus thrusts to his base, causing Jane's head to throw back against the hard tile in a long moan. His entrance is smooth from their combined fluids and her ease as accustoming to his shape. He pulls out to the tip and moves a hand behind her head, before slamming back into her with more force.

She whimpers at the sweet torture of his brutal force, ridged cock deep inside her, and plates stroking against clit and nipples as he grinds into her. His movements allow him to use his whole body as one giant devise of torture on her body and she thrashes her head in his grasp as she desperately pleas for him to take her over.

"I'm getting there, Jane." He growls in her ear with a dark rumble of a laugh in his harmonics and jerks his hips up into her. That hits the spot and sends her spiraling over the precipice. She throws her head back in his palm and screams, her nails digging uselessly into his plated back.

She feels him slow his pace to let her recover, but she shakes her head, the motion making it spin as the endorphins rush through her body. "Keep going, Garrus… Oh god, keep going."

He growls and follows her command, starting his rhythm back up. He drops his head to her shoulder and licks the trails of water as it flows down her body. His hot pants against her skin laced with his moaning growls are quickly bringing her back to the edge and she starts to thrust back into his hips in hopes to pull him over with her.

Garrus' hand at the side of her head clenches into the tiled wall, creating a high creak before they find grip and Jane moans at the tell-tale flexing she feels against her walls. She throws a leg behind his thighs and drops one hand to his ass, pulling him with each thrust into her as she tries to force him deeper.

He moans lowly at his orgasm hits, pulling her over with a final broken moan as they both jerk against each other, their muscles still wanting that pleasurable thrusting but their nerves firing with too many sensations to properly control. Garrus' hand in her hair flexes with each pulse of his cock in her walls as he fills her with his load.

He growls when his hips fall still and she lets out a weak laugh. "Damn, Garrus." He looks to her with a quirked brow. "I don't know how we're going to get anything done if we have to work on the same ship."

He chuckles and rubs his forehead to hers. "I think we'll find a way. The Normandy _is_ partially of Turian design, you know."

She snorts and kisses him, short and sweet, before he pulls away so they can properly clean. When their shower is complete, they decide to order something to be delivered for dinner because they don't feel like going out for the rest of the night. They spend the evening after dinner in each other's arms on the couch watching mindless television but end up spending more time talking to mind.


	9. Chapter 8

-Garrus-

When they awoke early in the morning, pressed so close together that it was difficult to tell where his body ended and hers began, he softly purred and nuzzled into her hair to wake her. She had smiled, let out what he could only describe as a giggle –though, he'd never say aloud for fear of retribution – and buried her face deeper in his cowl.

Despite their every desire to stay like this, they both knew they had responsibilities, a duty to follow up with the promises she had made to the Council and to the galaxy. She was a Spectre now and far be it for him to stand in her way. No, he'd gladly stand beside her in private and behind her back in public, watching her six as she charged into battle with flaring biotics and blasting shotgun. He isn't too surprised anymore to see his willingness to, for once, take to the shadows but then again, she was an entirely different person than everyone else in his eyes.

Reluctantly, they had crawled out of bed and pulled together their clothes. He had already packed a small amount of things he would need to live on the ship during their deployment last night and simply returned to his armor for the trip. He never really felt comfortable without the armor when he was deployed, so he figured falling back on the habit wouldn't be too out of the ordinary.

By the time he was in his armor and ready to leave, she had dressed and packed her grimy armor into a plastic bag and thrown it in her duffle. Jane had scoffed when she saw him and remarked about not having anymore 'quickies.' _As if that would stop him._

They were done with enough time to grab a quick breakfast and arrive at the docks at 0530. She spotted her Captain and the human Ambassador outside the docked ship, both seeming to be in deep conversation. He had excused himself, politely and as the subordinate in their ploy, as she remained.

He had already gotten his posting and set up his gear by the time he heard her voice over the ship-wide intercom. She spoke with the authority of a Spectre, but he could still hear her trademark attitude he's come to love seep into her words.

"Listen up, Normandy crew," she booms. "This is your commander. Our orders are to get Saren before he reaches the Conduit and we will not let _anything_ stand in our way." He looks around the cargo hold and sees the human crew, all their faces in a mix of emotions, with their eyes upward to the sound of Jane's voice. "The galaxy thinks that humans are too ambitious, too quick into action? Then I say we show them that this determination is what's going to bring Saren down because this _isn't_ just a human problem." Garrus' mandibles flick at the crew's energetic reaction. _He_ certainly never thought that, but he sees now exactly what she's doing.

She's addressing the fears and concerns of those lowly grunts on the ship like the men and women in the cargo hold. She speaks to the people who work tirelessly, with little to no recognition, and receive the same prejudice caused by their leaders. Her ground team doesn't need a pep talk, they all have seen what Saren is capable of and that he needs to be stopped, but those who stay within the confines of the ship while the team fights? They need this speech and that's exactly why she's giving it to them.

"Saren is a danger to the whole damn galaxy!" Wrex grins up from his corner on the far wall and slams a fist in his hand at her angered words. _Clearly, she knows how to get a Krogan up in arms._ "He may run and he may hide, but we'll find that bastard in whatever hole he chooses and we _will_ stop him down, no matter the odds, no matter the cost."

The crew cheers loudly, Wrex and the Gunnery Chief, Williams, joining in, as the distant hum of open channel ends, closing her speech. His mandibles flick in a soft smile as he watches the members of the crew he had just earlier seem nervous and hesitant light up in renewed vigor.

_She certainly has a different way to boost morale, but it seems to work._ A few of the crew nod to Wrex or himself, even patting a hard hand on one of their backs with a shout. They obviously don't consider the two as part of the rest of 'the galaxy' Jane mentioned, but then again, they are two of the three aliens openly willing to aid in their quest. Perhaps that's what has gained their mirth.

The crowd soon disperses to get back to their duties and Garrus follows suit, moving to his newly appointed station to begin the task set to him by Jane's XO, to maintain and supply the Normandy's M35 Mako.

-Jane-

"Pressley." The man turns around with a start and lets out a quick salute. "At ease. I need you to set course for the Artemis Tau cluster. We're going after Benezia's daughter, but we don't know what system." Jane pauses to go over what Anderson told her in her head. "Start with the Sparta Cluster," remembering Admiral Kahoku's request, "we already have a mission on Edolus, so that'll give us a good start on where to look."

"Yes, ma'am." He salutes again before returning to his navigations, inputting her ordered destination. "Estimated time of arrival," the clinking of keys, "four hours, ma'am."

"Very good, let me know when we reach the system." She knows why the Navigations officer seems short and to the point with his answers and she can't quite feel bad for it.

Before she addressed the crew, she had spoken to Pressley because she was told he was given the place of her XO and she wanted to quickly touch base with him. All was well until he questioned some particular members of her crew being on board and the amount of leeway of travel around the ship they were given.

Though she understood his reluctance to just trust people that he, technically, had never met –and honestly, Wrex was an initial shock – her new team, she did not like the tone of doubt in his voice. A doubt that questioned if she knew what she was doing, if she was aware of the dangers. That had been the breaking point, the one thing that made her stand up and defend her crew, and her decision.

Needless to say, odds are she won't be getting any more personable with the XO outside of orders and commands because of her reprimand. She was fine with it, really, because it had been a bigger matter of questioning her command than overcoming prejudice and that is something she won't stand for, human or alien.

When she makes it down the ramp, she sees Alenko at his station working on his terminal. She approaches, figuring she might as well start from the top of the ship, work her way down, and had already had an _enlightening_ conversation with the pilot. _Never had my ass ripped into for no reason, but it did give me a good laugh._

"Commander." Alenko greets Jane when she arrives at his station, locking his terminal and turning to face her. "I guess congratulations are in order." He smiles. "I never got the chance to tell you yesterday… too busy getting away before you changed your mind on that shore leave."

Jane rolls her eyes. "I know I'm a bitch on the field, but come on, that's just evil."

"Now, I wouldn't say that about our ground work. You're leadership does take some getting used to, but who's doesn't?" He starts at his words, his eyes widening, before he stutters. "It's not like that bad or anything… I actually like the way you lead a team."

She holds in her laugh at his fumbling and moves her hand in a downward fanning motion. "Easy, Lieutenant. No need to get worked up. I think I get what you're saying." She crosses her arms at her chest. "Now, seeing as how we aren't on a shakedown anymore, how's your station? Do you need supplies?" She motions with her head to his terminal.

"Uh, no." He scratches his temple. "Nothing has come to my attention so far. If anything does, I'll let Pressley know." She nods and turns to leave but he stops her.

"Something on your mind?" She lifts a brow. "Something that's not necessarily involving your station?"

She wants to be friendly with her crew, she really does, but she really hopes this isn't going to be another conversation about aliens on the ship. She likes the Lieutenant on the field and she'd really prefer to at least be on good terms with those she's going to rely on, but she's not going to hold her tongue to play nice.

She'd rather have her crew hate her for who she is as a person than love her for something she isn't. Any friendships come after the mission and she's not changing what makes her Jane to please everyone.

"Well, it's just that I was there when the Council demised you about the real reason Saren is out there." He frowns. "I know you know whatever it is you saw from that beacon and they're just not concerned in the least. It just doesn't make any sense." He leans his hip against his terminal and glowers at the floor. "There's writing on the wall but no one seems to be paying any attention but us." He scratches his head with a confused look. "You'd think the Council would be more inclined to listen and heed the warnings. Instead they just sent us off to take care of only a little of the problem."

Jane smirks, taking in his words and how similar to her very thoughts. "You seem to feel really strongly about this."

He looks to her, a look of dejection in his eyes. "It's just that all the books, all the movies-everything- give us this expectation of what the final frontier was going to be like. When we finally get our hands on the ships to see it only to find out there were people already here, and what's worse is they don't even seem impressed. They look at us like we're children in awe of the beautiful view." He huffs. "If anyone would be able to see the dangers, it should be them. They have spent hundreds of years out here."

Jane chuckles and Kaidan looks to her with a puzzled laugh. "Sorry, Alenko. I understand what you're saying but I never thought you'd be a romantic." He huffs a laugh and his smile loosens into something more natural. "You sign up to live like one of those stories in the 'final frontier'? Get some blue and green babes to share your bed like 'the Captain'?"

He shrugs. "Who doesn't watch those old vids or read those books as a kid?" He smiles. "And who said all the women the hero gets have to be blue or green?" They share a good laugh. "Sorry if I crossed the line, Commander. Brain Camp didn't really stress proper protocol… still getting used to it."

Jane shrugs and waves his apology off. "No harm done. I'm perfectly fine with someone expressing an opinion like that. Good to see someone else able to see past the blinders, but for now, we'll just have to play by the Council's lead and hope we get the Intel we need on our own." He nods and returns to his terminal, the screen coming to life as she leaves to go down to the cargo hold.

After a - very long and boring - ride on the elevator, Jane scans the bay, spotting Williams at the gun cleaning station, which makes sense considering her title, and Wrex seeming to be beating a dent out of a piece of his armor in front of the crew lockers with a fist. On the opposite side of the bay's large exit hatch, is the Normandy's requisitions officer, Serviceman Clark, and the Mako with a very distinct set of feet visible from its undercarriage. She rolls her eyes without moving her head, knowing that at this distance no one will notice, and decides to check up on her requisitions officer first.

"Hello, Commander." He smiles and hands her a datapad containing the information from yesterday's purchase from C-Sec. "I received your purchases right before we disengaged." He jerks over his shoulder to a stack of crates by his station. "I'm in the midst of unpacking them now and should get them ready for you in about an hour." She hands him the pad back, everything checking out. "Oh, I almost forgot. I received the licensing agreement. You can come to me now if you need Spectre gear and can't get to the Citadel."

"Good work, Clark." Jane nods once and leaves him to his work. She goes into the Engineering room to check up on Tali, deciding she'd rather make sure the young Quarian is comfortable considering she was so hesitant to join.

She had spoken to Engineer Adams upstairs when she had first come aboard the ship after hearing about Anderson stepping down. He had nothing but praises for Tali even after only having her down in Engineering for a few hours. He genuinely seemed impressed with her knowledge and skills he had already seen and personally requested for the girl to stay. Jane was all too happy to oblige, glad that her initial guess about Tali's interest proved correct.

At her approach, Tali seemed engrossed in whatever was on her screen so Jane made a show to nearly stomp behind her. Tali's head jerked up and looked around, before completely turning, her bright eyes crinkling in what Jane's come to see as happiness. "Oh, Commander! I didn't see you come in."

Jane smiles, easily able to open up to the Quarian. "At ease, soldier," she jokes. "I hear you've been making a good impression on my Chief Engineer. So, did I pay up on my promise or what?"

"It's amazing, Shepard." She looks at the core, her eyes wide in awe and reverence. "This drive core is incredible…"

"Tali, you know if you start going off on another string of ship tech I won't understand a word." The corner of Jane's lip quirks up. "Remember the_little_ talk you had at the Embassy."

Jane had completed zoned out, no matter how hard she tried not too, and ended up just having the girl's words go in one ear in out the other. It's not like she wasn't interested or didn't want to talk to Tali, she just had no clue what the hell was being said. In her ears, it might as well been another language.

"I've learned my lesson. No more ship talk, don't worry." Her accented voice has a light lilt to it, making Jane think she's smiling in amusement. "I'm just excited."

"Are you settled in? Has Adams let you send out requisitions for any supplies?"

"Yes." She nods and cups her hands together at her chest. "Thank you again, Shepard." Jane lets her get back to work, heading to the next person on her list, that bastard Krogan.

"Shepard." He smirks. "Figured you'd be stuck to you Turian, not talking to an old Krogan." He leers, his blood red eyes narrowing. "You got a taste for scars and a real man over the kid?" She rolls her eyes and clenches her jaw. _Best let him get it out of his system._ "Don't get your blood up. I'm not going to go spreading… whatever it is you and the Kirok do."

"Kirok?" Jane lifts a brow. "Seriously, what's with the insults with you two?"

Wrex huffs and looks across the bay. "Humans wouldn't understand the bad blood between Turians and Krogan."

"Oh, I know of it." Jane crosses her arms across her chest with a frown. "Anyone who isn't stupid and has spent any amount of time on the Citadel knows of it."

"So you know how they tried to wipe out my entire race." He grunts, the corner of his mouth twitching.

She stands straight and shoves a finger at him. "Don't give me that bullshit. Krogans and Turians were in a war. A war the Krogan started by attacking the Council. I may not agree with everything that happened during the Rebellions and, hell, I'll admit I don't know the whole story. But you can't stand here and tell me that the Krogan wouldn't have done the same damn thing if they had the chance."

He scoffs. "All we wanted was colonies we _earned_ fighting their war against the Rachni, but when we asked for our due, they denied us. You telling me _humans_ wouldn't have started something?"

"We wouldn't have started dropping asteroids onto planets and then gotten pissed off when, surprise, they retaliated." Jane waves a hand dismissively. "Look, I wasn't there, humans weren't there, so I'm not going to get into a rhetorical pissing match with you. Keep politics off the battlefield and out of the squad or find yourself another ship."

Wrex glares at Jane, a silent match of wills, before he huffs, his shoulders losing a bit of their built tension. "Plenty of people have said the Krogan deserved the Genophage but no one's had the courage to yell in my face." He growls a low rumble and she thinks it's a semblance of a chuckle. "And a human, at that. You've got a quad, Shepard." He shifts back and his voice loses some of its strength, sobering his words. "I gave up on the Krogan long ago." Her eyebrow quirks. "Krogan don't think like other species, don't see the importance in creating colonies or staying on our home world to rebuild our people. No…" he sighs, the air rattling in his throat. "The Genophage may have made us sterile, but we're going extinct because of our own damn fault." His red head rises and his eyes scan to the Mako. "No one on this ship will hear of your choice in mate from me, Shepard."

At a loss of what to say from his words, Jane merely nods a thanks and gives him back his space. Though he may say he's given up on his people, she can tell he still cares. Who wouldn't care that they may be the last of their people that they've slowly watched dwindle?

"Commander?" The Gunnery Chief calls and Jane changes course to join her at the workbench. She hopes this will be the chance for them to clear the air after their blowout about Eden Prime, but she finds out she couldn't be more wrong.

At first, their conversation gets off to a good start. Williams apologizes for throwing a verbal low blow with her mention of Akuze and states she understands now that Jane was only scrutinizing her work on the colony to see her skills. Once they clear that issue up as best could be expected and begin to chat, the tides change again, and change fast.

It starts with Williams stating she's concerned over the presence of Garrus and Wrex in the hold and their non-limited restrictions. Jane bites her tongue to hear her out, hoping this doesn't turn into another issue about her being too trusting, but then the Chief says something that nearly makes Jane's mouth drop to the floor in shock.

"If you're fighting a bear and the only way for you to survive is to sic your dog on it and run, you'll do it. As much as you love your dog, it isn't human." She shakes her head, oblivious to Jane's speechless blinking as she tries to process, and reprocess, those words. "It's not racism, not really-"

"Hold up, Williams." Jane interrupts once her mind fully comprehends that yes, the Chief did just relate the other species to dogs. "That _is_racist and if you believe otherwise you're so full of it I wonder how you can even see." Williams stutters, her mouth open. "You can't just go around equating other intelligent species as dogs. As nothing more than a pet or thing you can set ownership to."

"It's not like that, Commander." Her brows lower as she tries to hold back her anger against Jane. "I'm only saying that if they are given the chance, they'll choose their own over us. I'm not some Terra Firma nutcase who only hates other species because I can." She crosses her arms over her chest defensively. "I think I have a damn good reason no to trust aliens – a real reason besides bigotry."

"I know of your family's history." Jane waves the Chief off. "Have you ever thought that maybe the reason you don't get promoted isn't because of an old grudge and more because of the fact that you blatantly insult other people _while on the Citadel_?" Williams's gasps and her eyes widen. "Yeah, I heard you – I was right in front of you, you know. 'I can't tell the animals from the aliens' ring a bell? The Alliance isn't keeping you on human colonies because of your grandfather's actions to save his men, they're most likely doing it because they don't want their soldiers to be seen out in the galaxy openly making racist comments." The Chief's arms drop and her face makes a grimace at some truth in Jane's words. "What kind of impact on the Alliance's efforts to gain more push with the Council do you think soldiers like that would cause?"

"I…" Her eyes search the metal flooring and Jane sighs.

"Look, Chief. Do you think I know how to command?"

"Yes, ma'am" She jumps to attention.

Jane places her hands at her back, a typical relaxed stance in the military. "Then trust in my abilities to command and control everyone on this ship, no matter the species. You don't have to like them. Hell, I'm not even going to force you to speak to them outside of battle, but I need you to be able to get over whatever it is you have against them and work with them."

Williams nods. "I understand, Commander. It won't be a problem. You say 'jump,' I say 'how high.' You order me to kiss a Turian, I'll ask which cheek."

_I doubt that._ "Just work on what I said, Williams," Jane offers with a lighter tone to her voice, not necessarily friendly like with the rest of her crew but no longer reprimanding.

"Yes, ma'am" she agrees and turns back to her work. Jane quickly checks her Omni-Tool for the time before heading over to the last, and most important, person on her list left to check in on.

He's almost completely underneath the giant tank doing who knows what and Jane huffs in amusement. _I haven't even taken the damn thing out and he's already working on it._

She approaches the side of the armor vehicle and sees his hand groping for a tool just beyond his reach. With a small smile, she nudges the tool further from his hand and well away from his grip.

"Vakarian," he starts, his body tensing before quickly relaxing. "You aren't ruining my Mako before I even have a chance to take it out, are you?" He shifts to pull out from under the massive machinery, knowing it's protocol to give complete attention when being addressed, but she quickly adds. "At ease, Vakarian. Don't want you to leave a screw out or something because you got distracted saluting." She smirks. "I know you Turians love your protocol."

She can practically imagine his mandibles flicking in frustration. "Sorry, Commander. Just checking the Mako for anything before you take it out. Better to keep things maintained and away from repairs than needed to do more work after the fact because it wasn't."

She smirks. _Wonder if he remembers the time I told him I'm a horrible driver. No amount of maintenance is going to help this thing once I get in on the ground._ "As you are then. You and Wrex are on the ground team once we hit Edolus. Can you get the Mako back to normal by then?"

"It's normal now, Commander," she can hear the amusement in his vocals. "Just let me know and I can get it ready." His hand reaches out for the tool again. "Uh, Commander?" His voice is laced with true confusion.

Jane smirks and scoots her foot closer to his hand. He gets the silent picture and lightly strokes her boot with his hand and fingers. Neither truly feels it past his glove and her sock and boot, but the thought is there and she can't help the soft smile. No one will be able to see their secretive caresses unless right by her side, so she lets them indulge as he continues like nothing.

"I seem to have lost a socket wrench and I'm a bit stuck here holding a part up." His voice sounds normal as he talks, but she can easily recognize the loving timber in his vocals. "Can you see it out there? It should be right around," he squeezes the toe of her boot and she feels the slight pressure. _Good thing I choose not to wear the steel toes._ "Here."

She bends down and peeks under the Mako with a sly smile as her hand reaches back, way away to where she had nudged it, to pick up the tool. "This one?" She asks innocently but with her professional tone. _Definitely going to call this my 'Commander' voice._

He purrs and flicks a mandible. "That's the one, Commander." She hands over the tool, smirking at the fact that he's going to end up having the easiest time maintaining their little ruse because he'll be the only Turian onboard. She knows nearly everyone on this ship can't read harmonics and she's damn sure he can easily clamp them off at will.

_Damn bastard has it easy,_ she thinks as she stands back up to lean against the side of the tank, her arms crossed.

She bites on her lip, trying to think of something to say that won't seem suspicious in this cramped cargo bay. How do you pretend to start a conversation with someone you've only known for a day and not let on that you already know so much? Also, how do you start a conversation with a Turian and make it sound like you aren't already favoring him if your species are supposed to be hesitant allies?

"Commander?" Garrus cuts into her thoughts, a hum of concern hidden in his voice. "I think I may need your assistance… I can't get out of here to use my terminal to request assistance. Could you get me someone?"

Realizing the out he's given, Jane makes a show to frown. "I don't have the men to just throw around because you want to play toy trucks, Vakarian." Her voice is stern in mock anger. "Is my Mako going to be ready for the mission or have you ruined it?" He rumbles in mock distress at the reprimand and she fights the laughter. _As if he'd squirm from being reprimanded, Mister Argues-With-Authority-Figures-Constantly._

She makes a show of sighing in frustration. "What if I helped you? Would this thing be ready in time?"

"Yes, ma'am." He rumbles apologetically. _Damn, he's good. Though it may just be because I'm not really a Turian and can't tell if he's bad._

Jane gets to her knees and maneuvers herself to her back so she can shimmy under the tank's body. When she gets up to his face, he flicks a smile and purrs softly. "See here, Commander?" He points to nothing under the Mako and hands her the tool in his hand. "I'll hold this and you just need to tighten with this."

She smiles and lifts her hands up so he can take them in his own. It's a damn ingenious idea, if she doesn't say so herself, and it gives her a chance to just feel him, even if only through their clasped hands and his gloves.

He rumbles softly and strokes a thumb along her skin, stopping immediately and look to where they are risen above him. "Hold on, let me get this." He vaguely states to anyone overhearing and slips his gloves off, purring when their unclothed skin touches.

She sees the glimmer of his silver ring and huffs a near silent laugh. "You're going to get us in trouble with that," she whispers.

He smirks and takes a hand to give it a small nip before licking it once. "Just one more spot and then this piece is on." She smiles and shakes her head softly at them sitting under the Mako and hiding like two teens.

They spend a moment just stroking their partner's hands, caressing palms, fingers, knuckles, anywhere and everywhere to just take in the other in the only way they safely can while under the watch of so many eyes.

A soft voice calls out from the far back of the Mako. "Commander?"

Jane recognizes it as Clark and calls out a response. "I'm under the Mako!" Garrus mock glares at the volume but she knows it's all show, so she glares back, waiting for an answer from outside.

"I have your gear ready. I noticed it included a tech upgrade and sniper rifle, so I thought you may want to take care of which of your crew these were assigned to." Garrus' mandibles flick in silent question and she nods in silent answer.

Knowing what is needed next, he takes on their little ploy again. "I'm good now, Commander." He softly squeezes her hands before letting her help him with his gloves. "Thank you for your help," he says, his words having more than one meaning.

She shoves her body out from under the vehicle and dusts her clothes off. "No problem, Vakarain. I _did_ do it for my tank." She imagines his exasperated head shake as she leaves him to hand out her 'gifts.'


	10. Chapter 9

-Garrus-

"Alright, here's the deal." Jane's voice is oddly calm despite the way her body nearly dislodges from the tank's seat at each bump she insists on hitting full force.

_I'm going to die with this woman driving. How can she be this bad?_ Garrus tightly grips the strap by his seat with one hand and the edge of the seat with the other. This is the only time he has ever wished he wasn't a Turian with a chest too broad to fit the human safety harness. Jane had, annoyingly, opted out once she discovered neither he nor Wrex could wear any.

"The Admiral thinks his men went missing in this vague area. Garrus, you have the exact coordinates so tell me when I'm getting warm." She frowns and her little pink tongue pokes between her lips as she rockets off a rise.

"Damn it, Shepard," Wrex groans from the gunnery seat. "Take it easy or you're going to have a Krogan blowing chunks in your shiny new tank."

"Let's not fill my workspace with _that_ smell." Garrus holds the navigation terminal and breaths heavy. "You're on a straight away to the target, Commander." His voice is weak but he's still able to keep track of their course.

"Cut the act, Vakarian, and get your woman to control this thing." Garrus' response is only a groan and half assed attempt to think of a remark.

"Oh, calm down you two babies," Jane scolds as the Mako begins to slow to a more manageable pace.

Their target is just in the distance and they vaguely begin to make out the details of the situation. It seems like the Admiral's team had taken in their own ground vehicle to investigate the nearby distress signal transmitter. The radar still pings from the tower's call and Garrus' brow lowers in suspicion.

"I don't like this," Jane comments. "Wrex, Garrus, keep an eye out for anything."

They give a silent aye as both of them quickly overcome their earlier nausea and Garrus scans through the terminal for signs of life. No matter what parameters he uses, all that shows on the radar is the solitary transmitter.

"Holy shit," he hears Jane gasp and immediately looks up, catching the sight of bodies strewn about the ground vehicle. "What the hell happ-"

Her words are cut short by a deep shaking from the ground, vibrating up the Mako's tires and rattling all of the tank's interior systems. Garrus' mind starts trying to piece together the pieces, his heart beating faster as he tries to grasp at the answer just beyond his reach, when a loud, rattling roar fills the air. Wrex's scream of "Maw!" goes unheard as Garrus quickly looks to his wife and his blood runs cold.

Her hands are clenched tight around the wheel, her armor creaking and arms quivering at the pressure. Her chest is moving rapidly and uncontrolled, her breaths hitting his ears as choked gasps as his visor records her rapid heart rate. Her skin is deathly pale, her pupils are blown wide, the green nothing more than a thin sliver of color, and focused solely on the monster of her nightmares as it stands guard over the distant tank.

"Wrex," Garrus snaps and the Krogan jerks to attention. "Take the wheel. If that thing makes a move, you get the hell out of here." Garrus gets out of his seat. "And for once, don't be a Krogan and try to take it out."

Wrex doesn't respond but leaves his post as Garrus grabs Jane's wrists. "Jane, look at me." She doesn't move, doesn't falter in anyway besides a slight shift under his palms and he pulls her hands from the wheel. He quickly lifts her from her seat by her hands, but she just crumbles to the floor once out.

Wrex takes her place, but Garrus' entire focus is only on his wife, his bondmate, that isn't showing any sign of understanding. "Jane," he softly says, his voice breaking in worry. He takes her face in his hands and tries to get her to look at him, to see him. "Jane, you need to come back. You aren't there anymore, Jane. Akuze will never hurt you again."

Her pupils shift, still empty but not as dark and lost, like she's searching but can't see yet. "Jane, Amora." He puts his head against hers, knowing he's never used Turian endearment but hoping she can hear the love in his voice and harmonics. "Please come back." His chest rumbles deeply in a bass note, calling wordlessly to his mate.

Her body suddenly collapses and he doesn't hesitate in pulling her to him, wrapping his arms around her back and vibrating in desperate subvocals. Her hands weakly grasp at his body and he wishes they weren't in armor, that they were able to be closer, able to feel each other's hearts beating in their own special synchronicity. He wishes he could take the pain and fear pulsing in her tiny body, take it into himself and carry the burden she should've never been given.

She gasps a weak, pained breath that makes his heart break in his chest and he croons into her ear. His voice is nearly broken, but he tries again to reach her. "Jane, I'm here. I love you."

Her body jerks and a sob escapes her lips, but her hands tighten with assured strength and her faltering breaths even out to heavy pants. "I love you too," she whispers against his body.

He makes her stay in his arms until her heart steadies and a quick look to Wrex shows that the Maw still has shown more interest and remains safely by its previous kill. Eventually, though, she gains enough strength to push him away, offering a weak smile of thanks before her mask slips back on, though its seams are fresh, but neither he nor Wrex are going to say something.

"Wrex," she commands even through her shaky vocal cords. "Stay on the wheel. You know how to maneuver around them better than any of us. Garrus, stay on the radar and keep track of it, let Wrex know if it tries to come up under us." She glowers and stares out of the Mako, seeming to lock eyes with the Maw. "I'm taking the guns. Let's blow this bastard to hell."

Both men give her a firm nod and take their places, awaiting for her ready order. When she gives it, Wrex takes off towards the creature as Jane constantly lays fire into its segmented body, switching between guns when they overheat.

With Wrex's constant movement to circle and lure the Maw from burrowing and Garrus' eye to make sure they aren't in for any more surprises, the Thresher is unable to do much besides writhe in pain and toss acid uselessly. Jane is disturbingly quiet as her entire focus zeros in on the beast, her control of the tanks' guns putting all of her pain and anger into its flesh.

When one final, tortured breath, the Maw throws its head into the air before its body slams to the ground. Jane's gun slowly spins to a stop as Wrex approaches the body, almost unrecognizable from the numerous bullet holes and cannon blasts. Jane hops down from her gunner seat and slams a fit into the door release of the tank before dropping to Edolus's dusty surface.

Wrex grunts softly and drops a hand on Garrus' shoulder before he can stand. "Not too many warriors can come out of something like that. Even fewer are able to pull one out." He doesn't say anything else before standing and hoping out of the tank, leaving Garrus to ponder his words before following suit.

When he drops out of the tank, he sees Wrex crouching by the Thresher body and doing something with his mouth. He ignores him and moves to help Jane with the transmitter, easily catching up on her head start as she frowns at the sight of the fallen soldiers.

"Garrus," she says without looking up. "Can you take care of the distress signal? I want to collect these men's tags. Their families deserve that at least."

He nods, his chest still aching from the pain in her eyes, but does as she asks and moves to the transmitter, pulling up his Omni-Tool to begin. During its shut down protocol, he glances over his shoulder to see Wrex now done with his task and aiding her. She still seems shaken, but her body isn't visibly trembling like before so he takes it as a small step.

The shutdown is almost complete when his Tool chimes and pulls up an alert. He quickly reads it, his eyes widening in shock at the discovery. "Jane, look at this." She comes to his call, her hand full of jingling tags, the sound a stark contrast to their darker purpose.

She scans over her own interface once the alert transfers and she curses softly under her breath, his translator not picking it up. "I can't believe it. This was a fake?!" She looks to him and he rumbles apologetically. She sighs. "Well, let's go." She looks out across the horizon. "This planet holds nothing but death now. I left one tag in case the Alliance has the decency to come give this men a proper burial." She looks at the tags in her hand. "Maybe they can have peace, now."

Their trip back to the ship is quiet, Jane not willing to say anything and he and Wrex not knowing what to say in her place. When they dock with the ship, it is late in the evening and most of the crew are either asleep or well into their off duty shift. Jane gives Wrex and Garrus leave to go their ways and takes the elevator up, alone.

"What the hell are you doing down here?" Wrex asks with a slam of his locker.

Garrus glares. "What does it look like? I can't just walk around the ship with her." He shoves his weapons in his locker but makes sure to handle his new rifle with care, as if it were the person who gave it to him. "I wasn't even supposed to pull that stunt out Edolus, but I don't regret it. She can kill me for it later."

The Krogan snorts, unimpressed. "You got a lot to learn…"

Garrus slams his own locker shut, the metal door rattling in aftershocks. "And just why are you so friendly, all of a sudden? You get off on seeing your commander break down?"

Wrex laughs, a full belly, deep rumbling that echoes through the metal walls of the hold. "Shepard's not like the other weak humans on this ship." He shoves a finger at Garrus' shoulder, pushing him back a step. "You want to do something about Edolus? Then grow a quad and get out of my space."

Garrus growls and a flicker of mandible, but Wrex's attention has moved on as he pulls something from one of the pockets in his armor and inspects it. He holds what Garrus sees as a tooth from the Thresher into the light and makes an obvious show of no longer having anything to say.

With a huff, Garrus leaves the stupid Krogan to his tooth and takes the elevator up to the crew quarters. Surprisingly, the ship is almost completely empty, running on a skeleton crew for basic needs, and the only sound, besides the soft snores of the crew in the distance, is the noise of running water in the showers. Curious, he moves to the Normandy's unisex showers and the door opens with a soft swoosh.

Standing under a steaming downpour is Jane, her head down and motionless except for the expanding and collapsing of her ribs. He softly rumbles in pain and moves to the door, setting a quick delay on its mechanism to act as a warning system.

Once done, he shifts his attentions to his own armor. He makes sure to make enough noise for her to recognize him, but if she does hear him, she doesn't show any sign. Once the last of his armor is striped from his plates, he approaches her, his chest thrumming in concern and bonded affection.

Jane places her hands against the wall before her as he comes up behind, nuzzling into the back of her neck where her hair parts to flow over her shoulders. She sighs and gently steps into his body, silently demanding his plates against her skin.

"Garrus," she sighs as his hands wrap around her waist, one to rest a hand on her soft belly and the other to grip her opposite hip, pulling her to his body. "I don't know what to do. How am I supposed to be a commander if I have a panic attack when I face a Thresher?"

He rumbles in response and drops his chin to her shoulder, unable to find the words to help her. Of course he'll be right there to help her out of whatever dark place she goes, but he knows that that is more of a promise to be kept in private and not where those she's trying to hide from can see.

"I love you, Garrus." One hand drops to his on her stomach. "I'd be lost without you, both at home and on the battlefield, it seems." She lifts his hand to place a soft kiss on his palm before dropping it to her chest and pressing his fingers around her breast.

"Jane," he warns as his own body jolts to life in expectation.

"I locked the doors for anyone but you." Jane throws her head back. "Anyone would simply think I want a solitary shower… unless you were seen?"

He purrs and licks her shoulder. "No, but are you sure this is what you want?"

"Garrus, you're the one thing that pulled me out." She turns her head and runs her tongue along his mandible, he it against her mouth in instinct. "I want you to make love to me," her next word is a breath of a whisper against his plates, "_Amora_. My love."

She licks her tongue on the sensitive inner membrane of his mandible and his hips jerk uncontrollably. _She's never known that spot before…_ She softly moans, pressing her ass back into his hips and grinds against her, using her body to urge his plates open.

Her hands move to hold him, one at his waist as it caresses, messages, and scratches, and the other to his fringe to alternate between gripping the center crest to messaging under its base as he holds him to lathe her tongue on her new discovery.

Every experience with Jane was new and special and every time he found himself either in her arms or she in his, a new sensation was discovered, a new pleasure point thoroughly explored, that every time before her seemed overshadowed and insignificant. Even the most routine of caresses and touches that they shared every time they together sent white hot sparks of pleasure through his body and he knows it's not the touches themselves, but the unbreakable connection they had. Jane was his second half, his heart, his soul, and each stroke of skin and plate was a mere bringing together of the whole.

"Garrus," Jane pants into the side of his mouth and licks against his teeth in silent request.

He turns to her and gladly lets her pull him into a deep kiss, her sweet taste hitting his tongue as her delicious moans escape her to be taken into his lungs. She grinds her body against him and rolls his hips, letting himself distend, and growls at the sensation of her smooth skin against his highly sensitive length.

Jane pulls away from his mouth first, her breaths fast as she takes his hand on her hip and leads it to her center. He growls and rubs against her backside as he caresses her already hot and wet cunt. Her hand takes his wrist and she uses her grip to direct his speed and pressure and he finds her sensitive clit and circles the bundle of nerves.

She moans and it pulls a responding one from his throat as she throws her head back and jerks against him, his cock at her back and hand in front. He continues to work her as she shifts to place her hands against the tiled wall and presses her bottom into his hip in silent direction.

He takes a step back and sees her plan as she bends at the waist to give him a better angle. She drops a hand to pull him, though not without a bit of struggle, away from her clit and she presses her ass against him, needy and unable to speak.

He growls and takes himself in hand, giving himself a hard stroke with her fluids on his hand mixing with his own. She moans and he looks up to see her watching him over her shoulder, her eyes wild and hungry, _Interesting._

Knowing this isn't about playing each other or teasing for the rush, he takes her hip in one hand and guides himself into her folds, knowing the way by the radiating heat and memory alone. He places his tip just within her opening and drops his hand to his base, before pushing slowly into her. She bows her back and whimpers, his ridged underside hitting that little spot on her front, as her hands quiver on the wall.

He steps close to her, giving him a position to pull her more along his chest so he can use his hands along her body. He softly grinds into her as he cups her breasts and plays with her nipples with his finger pads and talons, occasionally using the hard edge of callus in a different sensation.

Jane throws her head against his shoulder and pushes back into him, trying to rush is slow pace, but he fights her, knowing she needs this his way more than hers. She needs to let go, let their bodies fall into synch, and forget, not rush to the end and miss the actual release.

With her neck open to him, he drops his head and lavishes it with nips, licks, and hot breath, his harmonics rumbling into her ear like he knows she likes. She tries harder to speed his pace, so he drops a hand to her belly, his palm enveloping the brand from her past, and holds her. She moans, a sound of have frustrated sob and pleasure, and presses her face to his.

He claims her mouth, invading her tongue with less force than they usually use during mating and using it to caress hers, softly stroking it in love and devotion, admiration and pride. He wants to show this woman in his arms just what strength he sees in her, his complete confidence that she will accomplish anything despite her fears.

She gasps a sob, her breath faltering in her body's little signs of coming close to that release, and he drops his hand from her belly to her clit, stoking it in time with his grinds. He can feel it too, that precipice into bliss that he always finds in her, that euphoria unlike any other, and he fights his body to hold out for her, to share this together.

She comes, not with a scream or yell, but with a high gasp that's like music to his ears and her clenching walls, so tight he was afraid she'd castrate him the first few times but have since become the exact opposite, pull him over with a low growl. He jerks, his body emptying into her to seep past the joining and down her legs, as he tries to pull out the last of their aftershocks.

When his hips finally slow to a stop, he hears a soft sound coming from Jane. He purrs in silent question and nuzzles to her neck and she lays a hand against his face. "Don't worry. I was just laughing."

"Laughing?"

"Weird, right?" She shifts a bit to give him a small, weak but genuine smile. "It feels good, though. Like I finally got everything off my chest. I couldn't do anything but laugh." She shrugs. "Probably the sex talking."

He hums in concern, knowing it's more than that. "You okay?"

She thinks a moment before smiling. "I think so. I may still need a bit of time before I want to go against a Maw again, but I'm pretty sure I won't freeze up." She twists her lips in thought. "I don't think I'd be ready yet to outrun it, but I think I can kill it."

Somehow, Garrus knows she's not just saying these things to make him feel better. He feels that she's right, that she won't have such a disastrous breakdown. If, by some horrible stroke of luck, she does, he will gladly be there to pull her back out.

"I think I understand, Jane," he purrs and strokes the back of a plated finger against her cheek. "Take these things at your own pace. I'll always be here, at your six and by your side."

She smiles and kisses him softly before they pull apart to clean their mess. Once cleaned, they go to their locker in the showers and grab their casuals, his from when he first got on the ship and laid them here, just in case, and hers from a little bag he assumed came from her bunk.

"I wish you could stay with me." Jane sighs once she's dressed and holds a brush to her hair. "It's so weird having to sleep without you even when you're so near. You're so close yet so far away."

He takes the brush from her hand and takes up the small routine they started in the months after their wedding, running his free hand through her strands as the brush picks apart the tangles. When he first offered to do it, she had scoffed and assured he'd be disgusted, but he insisted, threatening to do it whether she approved or not.

When she relented, he showed her that for him, brushing her hair was the exact opposite of disgusting. When he felt the silky strands fall between his fingers, it reminded him of the soft breaths only he was allowed to hear from her mouth, and when she closed her eyes and hummed, he couldn't help but respond in kind as his chest warmed up in delight. He was even trying to do those things she called 'braids' but he has yet to make them strong enough to survive her late night tossing and turning.

He didn't really feel the need to explain to her this caring for one's mate was a Turian male thing. He guessed she already knew by the way she would offer or press into him during his other subtle attempts to preen her. She had even surprised him a few times by challenging the regular custom and forcing him down to enjoy as she ran her fingers in his fringe or took his hands in her lap and cared for his talons. To imagine that a human woman would make him comfortable enough to sit back and be preened, despite his nature saying otherwise, made him smile even to this day, but, then again, Jane never ceases to amaze him.

Once Garrus has brushed the tangles from Jane's wet hair, he quickly puts it into a braid so it'd be out of her face while she slept like she likes. She chuckles at the rope along her back and gives him a soft kiss before caressing his forehead. "Good night, Garrus."

He cups her cheek and rumbles. "Good night, Jane."

Their masks fall into place and he leaves the showers before her, taking the elevator and feels his spirit fall with each passing meter of decent. 'So close yet so far away.' He could definitely agree with that.

~SquigglySquid says: Amora is a word I made up from the Latin word amor that means love. Amora best translates as 'my love and soul' and is best used as a endearment for bondmates. It's sometimes thought to be more than words, instead being a type of sensation. That idea is mostly dismissed now as romantic movie material, but the term still exists among some head-over-heels couples.

Garrus and Jane don't use endearments unless in joke as they feel they're too childish. Garrus has to train himself to tell Jane "I love you" as she can't hear his harmonics and because Turians aren't vocal in the usage of words for emotions. In desperation, though, Garrus didn't know what else to do than plead with her to come back.

I assume you can guess when they would ever use Amora, if ever.


	11. Chapter 10

-Jane-

The boiling hot planet of Therum has, so far, proven to be one of the most uncomfortable locations Jane has ever had to land on. Even the Mako was having a hard time cooling the air and she could feel the downpour of sweat flowing down her back and making her undersuit stick to her skin.

Garrus was the only one of them that seemed to be at least somewhat able to manage the heat. Being from such an unforgiving planet as Palaven was probably to thank for this, but Jane still inwardly cursed him for looking no different than he would after a workout. Sure, his mouth did hang slightly open to cool himself and he was chugging water like no tomorrow, but who of them wasn't?

She actually felt a bit bad for bringing the young Quarian with her, though, as she now sits slumped in her seat from the heat, the light of her helmet fluttering with her pants. She had assured that her suit could manage, but even then, she was in a full suit and that didn't aid much in getting cool.

Seeing as how the odds Geth were all over in search for T'Soni, Jane figured bringing Tali would give her a perfect chance to see the girl in action. Tali's knowledge of synthetics and how to take them out, coupled with the new Omni-Tool Jane gave her, would definitely be put to the test here if the few scattered Armatures were any indication of what lay ahead.

They come up to a group of large boulders blocking their path and Jane pulls the Mako to a stop. "Looks like we're legging it the rest of the way." _Hopefully that entrance on the rise isn't a mirage._ She turns in the driver's seat and sees Tali's tilted head from where she sits at the navigation terminal. "Sorry, 'legging it' means we're walking the rest of the way."

"Oh, Keelah," she huffs a tired breath and her shoulders drop.

Jane wipes her forehead and grimaces at the feeling of her gloved fingers across her flush and slick skin. She frowns at the offending hand and hears Garrus' low chuckle.

"Come on, now. It's just a little heat." His words are joking but his vocals are showing the same signs of exhaustion. Those few times getting out of the tank to take out Geth and open checkpoints were taking their toll on all of them, it seems.

"Garrus is right." Jane stands and moves to their collection of water packs that attach to their armors. "Here," she tosses the one specifically for Tali with its triple filtration system and purifier. Tali straps it on her back and hooks the tubing to her helmet as Jane hands Garrus his, the straps and latches better suited to attach to his armor and body shape.

She then grabs hers, a simple pack with straps for her arms and strap that clips around her waist to loop around her thighs. It has a tube that she pulls over her head to lay at her neck so she can drink and she takes an experimental sip to make sure there are no snags or kinks in it.

Once she's settled, she looks to her team to check that they are as well and once assured, she opens the hatch and hops down. The other two follow and take position at her back corners, unlatching their weapons as she pulls out her new pistol.

They make it up the incline and approach the mining camp that seems to be where T'Soni is holed up. Most of the facility seems to lay under the surface as all that's here is a small living quarters raised up from the ground, probably to distance itself from the heat radiating out of the ground, that leads to digging machinery by a long catwalk and an access that descends below the surface.

Despite her every intention not to get closer to the magma under the surface, and the source of this unbearable heat, Jane knows they have no other option if they wanted to find any evidence of the doctor as she hasn't responded to any of their hails. She motions to the tunnel entrance and changes direction, but quickly stops at a strange chirruping sound.

A loud thump and then, out of seemingly nowhere, a grey shape drops to the ground directly in their path. It scuttles towards the rising machinery and Jane catches enough detail to see its some kind of Geth, though her eyes widen as it leaps off the ground to stick along a vertical wall before scurrying out of sight.

The air fills with an incoming ship, thrusters booming at its close proximity, and she and her team look up just in time to see a group of blurs drop from ship. Several deep thumps send vibrations through her boots and as the dust settles, lights of Geth blink into existence and the massive form of an Armature takes shape.

Immediately, Jane lets her instincts take over and she forces out a throw at the collection of synthetics. Some of the weaker ones fall with high whines while the other, stronger and definitely bigger, ones simply stumble, but it gives her and her squad a chance to rush into cover without catching fire.

Their only cover at this range is a set of crates. Garrus takes the far end, his sniper rifle giving him the best advance at this range, while Tali quickly moves to hack the Geth or tamper with their systems because her shotgun is useless.

Jane rushes through the machinery, dodging in and out of the metal and piping to avoid fire, and takes cover much closer to her target, the Armature. She sends a warp to the beast as it tries to fire at her squad, its allies quickly falling to their combined firepower, and lays fire into the glowing bulb at its 'head.'

One of the strange Geth that can climb the walls takes the higher ground when her team focus on the Armature and Jane sees it trying to flank them. Pulling her pistol up, she targets the already leaking circuitry at its neck and fires. The Geth squeals a high fizzling noise before falling, landing on her teams cover and falling behind it, pulling a startled squeak from Tali who Jane supposes hadn't known.

Now the Armature stands alone and, by the looks of it, it isn't in the fight for much longer. It's 'head' is all but destroyed as Garrus laid perfect fire into its optics and, as a result, its fire is wide spread and inaccurate. With a hard surge of energy surrounding her body, Jane jumps out of cover and shoves out towards the Geth, sending a blast of biotics to throw it back tumbling into the molten lava at its back.

"Way to show that machine who's boss, Shepard." Tali's light voice comes over the comm as she and Garrus make their way to her.

"Yeah, wouldn't want them to think we're going easy on them by just shooting them," Garrus remarks with a flick of mandible.

Jane shrugs and pulls an energy bar from a pocket in her armor. "Whatever works, right?" She tears at the packaging and motions onward as she takes the lead again. "Now that we've taken care of that little interruption… let's go get ourselves an Asari archeologist."

As they take the ramp up, Tali comes up to her side and points at the bar in her hand. "Don't you think you should hold off snack time for later, Shepard?"

"What, this?" She holds it up before taking a bite, but grimaces at the taste and texture, like salty cardboard and dirty, gritty socks. She hacks once to get the taste to pass but takes a quick drink to wash it down when that proves ineffective. "God, this thing is horrible… but with the heat and fighting, I need the extra boost for my biotics. I always keep some of these around, just in case."

Garrus grunts behind her as the mine's doors swing shut behind them. "Then why not get something that doesn't have you making that noise and face each time you take a bite?" Tali nods her head in agreement and holds back a laugh when Jane takes another taste and proves him right.

"Jesus, you two, I'm not of money. The fancy ones cost a shitload so what's the point if I'm just going to shove them in my face?" She finishes of the bar and wipes her hands against her suit, a pointless move since she's wearing gloves but a bit of habit.

She wishes she could afford the better stuff, but with the amount a biotic eats to maintain energy reserves for battle it just doesn't seem worth it to her. Maybe as a reward for taking down Saren, she'll buy a big box of the chocolate varieties. Her mouth's already watering thinking about it but she quickly snaps herself back to attention, mind focusing on possible danger. _Day dream about food later._

They reach an elevator and she gives her crew a quiet order of caution as they ride it down. The environment of this mine doesn't feel right, too quiet, too still. A perfect opportunity for everything to go wrong quickly.

As they past layers of rock, a strange blue glow comes into view on their left. "What do you suppose that is?" Garrus asks.

"Whatever it is, there are more all along that wall," Tali says, leaning a bit on her toes to look over the edge of the elevator and down into the cavern.

When they hit the bottom of this lift's descent, they find a path to another blocked by a group of Geth turrets. They take them out easily enough and hop into the elevator, but it grinds to a stuttering halt after a few meters.

"Looks like we're walking," Jane says as she latches her pistol to her hip. There's a small drop from the lift to the next level, but not one that'll cause any trouble. She drops down, her feet hitting the metal grating of the walkway hard, and her team land shortly after with two loud bangs.

"Uh…hello? Is there anyone there?" A female voice calls out, the sound strange and modulating as if she's speaking through a spinning fan.

Jane waves her team to follow as she pulls out her gun to hold it at the ready while she runs down the makeshift ramp of fallen platforms. She rounds a corner and comes face to face with one of those same blue alcoves, except this one seems to be cut off by a glowing blue wall of shimmering energy.

"Could somebody help me? Please?" the voice asks again and it seems to be coming from the closed off room.

Jane approaches, her eyes squinting to try and distinguish the objects beyond the shimmering wall. When she recognizes a shape, her eyes widen as she sees an Asari levitating in the air, her arms outspread and body still, and surrounded by an orb of energy.

"Can you hear me out there?" she asks, her voice clearly showing signs of her exhaustion. "I'm trapped. I need help!"

"Quit shouting," Jane reprimands and the woman's eyes blink in disbelief. "It isn't safe here." She nods in understanding as Jane continues, "Are you Dr. T'Soni?"

Surprised, she stutters a bit with her answer. "How…How do you know who I am?"

"That's not important right now. I need to get you out of here."

"Right." She closes her eyes and her throat bobs quickly. "This thing I am in is some kind of Prothean security device. I activated it when the Geth came thinking it would protect me, but I must have done something wrong because I'm trapped. I need you to get me out of it."

_Really?! You're the Prothean expert and even you got stuck. How the hell do you expect me to do it?_ Jane doesn't speak the words in her head and instead agrees, telling the Asari she'll do her best.

On the next level down, they find more Geth but are quickly able to take them out thanks to their combined tech, biotics, and gun blasts. When Jane finds a mining laser that still seems to be functional, she gets an idea.

"You aren't seriously thinking about using that are you?" Tali asks when Jane starts to examine its controls.

"Damn right, I am. In fact, I need you to get this thing's controls open." Tali obliges with a huff as Jane steps back to envision the path of the laser. It looks like it'll hit the wall under T'Soni and hopefully blast through to the other side to whatever lies behind.

Once Tali gets her access, she hits the control with a strange sort of child-like glee. _Probably not great to find joy in the thought of most likely destroying things, but take the little pleasures when you can find them, right?_Unfortunately, the lasers cuts through the rock with little trouble and the resulting falling boulders and unsettled dust is less than spectacular, but they are given a clear path.

They find that there is, in fact, an internal elevator on the other side of the oblong room and take it up to the chamber that the doctor has found herself trapped in. T'Soni starts at their approaching footsteps and seems a bit shocked and confused when Jane tells her how they got in. Jane figures the poor Asari never thought of destroying the place, but, then again, she would probably rather preserve it for study. _Oh, well. Shouldn't have gotten yourself trapped if you weren't going to like my methods._

T'Soni talks Jane through the process to unlock the containment field and falls to the ground with an 'umph.' Clearly wanting to be rid of this place, and probably half-starved or thirsty, she leads Jane and her team to the inner chamber where they just recently found a functioning lift.

As the lift slowly rises, Liara questions Jane why the Geth would be wanting to attack her. They take the opportunity to inform her of her mother's dealings with Saren and that they suspect the Geth are here for her knowledge in Protheans. She seems confused and intrigued by the idea of whatever the Conduit is, but all Jane picks up on is the fact that their trip here seems to be a bust. Dr. T'Soni hasn't even heard of a 'Conduit' in her dealings and she is claimed to be the best.

The elevator grinds to a halt and their surroundings shake with a loud booming rumble. "The hell is that?"

"These ruins have never been all that stable." Liara looks around the vast chamber. "The mining laser must have triggered a seismic event."

That's all Jane needs to hear before she quickly calls up the Normandy. "Joker! Get your ass off the ground and on my signal. Double time it!" Joker instantly responds with guarantee of their incoming.

Just when they think the quick retreat is bad enough, they find themselves blocked in by a Krogan thug and a handful of Geth at the uppermost section of the inner chamber. "Surrender. Or don't…That would be more fun," he grunts out at her group.

Jane scowls. _Like I need this on top of everything else._ "The fun way it is," she says as she steps in front of T'Soni and uses a throw against the two Geth on his right.

The Krogan laughs and charges. In a silent agreement, Garrus unlatches his assault rifle from his back as Jane side steps to lead the Krogan away from his reinforcements. Tali focuses on the Geth, whittling down their defenses to make them weak enough to confuse their sensors and cause them to fire on their allies.

Jane vaguely notices Liara throw up a protective barrier around herself. She has enough time to hope the move isn't a sign of the woman's ineptitude because she can't risk her team if T'Soni finds herself in danger.

A loud yell of rage pulls her back to the present as the massive yellow Krogan comes plowing down the chamber and straight for her. Her senses focus solely on his form as it approaches, blocking out the rapid gunfire of Garrus' assault rifle as he chips away at the Krogan's defenses, and she counts the seconds in expectation of the perfect moment.

At the last second, Jane jumps to the side and he stampedes past, his feet still moving though he must know he missed his target. He slows to a near stop, but before he can turn and try again, Jane rushes him, throwing out a strong kick at the seeping wound that constitutes his back. He stumbles to his knees and Jane pulls out her shotgun, moving to his front to unload it into his unplated face and only stopping once the guns whines from overheating.

She stomps his pulpy face just in case before rushing her team and the doctor out of the chamber. Rocks and metal fall all around them as they sprint for the exit, their breaths fast and hard as, for the first time since landing, their bodies ignore the dizzying heat to focus on survival.

By some miracle, Jane hears a soft whimper behind them and she quickly turns, ignoring the quick protest of her mate, to see the doctor failing dangerously behind. Without thought, she bolts to the Asari and grabs the woman's arm with intention of dragging her if she has to.

They bolt from the mines in a cloud of dust and heat, a loud canopy of collapsing earth at their backs. The Normandy is hovering above their location and Jane jerks the doctor when she feels the woman's legs try to give out.

Tali is the first into the cargo bay doors and collapses the moment she hits the safety of the ship, exhausted from heat and fatigue. Garrus helps Jane boost the weak doctor into the ship before hopping in and offering his hand. Jane gives the order to evacuate the planet before the hatch is completely shut, giving her crew a perfect view of the mining facility going under the magma as it closes.


	12. Chapter 11

-Jane-

"It's up to you if you're smart enough to listen."

_Seriously? First you question my ability to keep an eye on someone on my own ship and then you call me stupid? What the hell?!_ Jane doesn't know what she's done to piss off the Turian Councilor, but he's not holding back with the condescending remarks today.

She supports her decision and T'Soni even though she hasn't yet had a chance to speak with the doctor. She doesn't really want to give him that kind of ammunition._Just be polite, Jane. Think of humanity…_

She hasn't yet had the chance to debrief her team, figuring to do that after her meeting with the Council in case they offered any additional information she could share. They continue to speak towards their confusion concerning the doctor's predicament and Jane almost shrugs off the Councilor's remarks as it simply being his job to act as the cynical nature of the Council to even out the other two until her ears catch _that tone_again.

"Was that really necessary, Shepard?" The other two subtly nod in agreement.

_Really?! The pompous ass is going to ask me that? We nearly all die and he only cares about rubbing my face into the fact that a ruin got destroyed? And the other two are too chicken shit to say anything to my face and instead let him do it?_ Jane scowls at his remark of something that could very well have killed her team. Whatever his personal vendetta or occupational duty is, she can no longer stand for it.

"My team almost died in that ratty shithole! If you think a bunch of dusty ruins are more important than getting any advantage over Saren then you sent the wrong damn Spectre!" She disconnects the call before they can respond, sending the signal into static as she seethes. _Ungrateful bastards…_

"Uh, Commander?" Joker's voice rings over the intercom. "You want me to hold off on calling the team for debrief?"

"Fuck it, Joker. Send them in." _Might as well get this over with._

Jane uses the time it takes them to file into the room to calm herself, taking deep breaths in and out. She notices the subtle shift in her husband's face that signals he's caught on that something's wrong, but she gives him a slight shake that goes unnoticed by the rest of the team as they take their seats.

His plates relax a fraction, but his eyes still hold that focus that she knows means he's bound to notice every subtle body movement she makes. To anyone else, he will look like his normal self, but Jane knows his mind will be working, putting pieces together and seeing behind her mask.

She's certain he'd like nothing more than to say 'screw it' to their rules, actually listen to his instincts and do something about his concern, but this is more important, their mission too vital, to let their personal lives get into the mix. His sense of duty will keep him in line, as is his Turian way, but sometimes she wishes they could be weak and give in to temptation.

Once everyone is settled in their seats, Jane runs through the mission to fill in Wrex, Williams, and Alenko as they hadn't been on the surface. Out of curiosity, Jane lets T'Soni fill the room in with some of her vast amount of Prothean knowledge, figuring that if their biggest lead on Saren, and these mysterious Reapers, in some type of Prothean artifact, it'd be best to know a little something about them.

She explains that though she's young and not well reviewed by her peers because of her age, young by Asari standards which gets a bit of a laugh considering, she believes she can explain the sudden extinction of the ancient race. Many of her words hit a familiar note in Jane's mind but she can't seem to figure out why. It is almost as if Liara's words hint at something Jane has seen or heard somewhere but when she tries to call on them, she gets nothing in return.

Even if she can't recall why the doctor's words seem familiar or why they feel like truth, she can hear in the woman's voice the shear amount of confidence in her theory. She may not be able to get any of her own academic peers to believe her, but going by her conviction alone, T'Soni could sway many. If she can get the evidence one day that she claims she's close to, perhaps she'll be able to solve other mysteries by association, as she believes.

When Jane brings ups the solution to the doctor's puzzle, the woman seems shocked at first, confused about the idea of the Reapers being the key to her cycle theory. When she explains the source of her knowledge comes from the beacon on Eden Prime, the woman lights up in fascination.

Now, listening to T'Soni explain the beacons and their purpose, Jane wishes she knew then what she does now, that they are a means of communicating and not often able to be interpreted by other species. 'Lesser minds' and 'strong wills' aside, Jane only cares about making sense of what she has. These images running through her brain mean nothing if she can't understand.

When the Asari offers to assist Jane is trying to make sense of the vision, hoping that perhaps her knowledge of the Protheans may give her better insight, Jane is hesitant, unsure about letting the woman in. She knows the benefits of trying to clear out the jumbled thoughts, but she's never been privy to the thought of another in her head and free to move as they please.

She isn't given much choice when the Lieutenant and Chief agree, stating the logical explanation that T'Soni may be able to see whatever the Conduit is inside the confusion. Having no way for an out, Jane reluctantly agrees and the Asari stands before her.

Jane takes a step back, her brows knitted in confusion. "I don't want you digging around in my head."

"Please, Commander." The woman smiles encouragingly. "I will only see what you wish to show me."

"And what will I see?" Jane knows vaguely how a meld works, each partner thinks about a certain thing or feels a certain emotion and it is transferred across minds, creating a connection to share in each other's sensations and feelings. She didn't like it the first time it happened to her - it's why she never took an Asari to bed unless they accepted that fact - and she knows she won't like it know, but she has no choice.

If she doesn't accept, she'll surely create distrust in her team for their new Asari member, as a group tends to follow its leader, intentional or not. If they see her not trusting of Liara T'Soni, they will have no reason to trust her either on shear principal.

"I will try to keep my mind clear, Commander, so you shall not need to worry." Her eyes crease in honest encouragement to match her soft smile and Jane gives in, taking a step forward.

"Now or never, I guess," she softly sighs and starts to let her mind run free with the frantic images of Eden Prime's beacon.

'Embrace Eternity' are the only words she hears from the Asari's speech and Jane's world sudden falls out from around her, throwing her into complete darkness. At first, she feels nothing but weightlessness and she's as peace with the meld until she feels the intense sensation her mind instantly remembers, reminding her of another reason she hated to meld minds.

It starts as a flicker of touch, a light feathering of sensation, before becoming a full blown pain. The feeling of fingers below her scalp and tapping, scrapping, clawing at her skull at they pry in attempts to get in, to dig into her thoughts and memories.

She gasps but feels no air in her lungs nor the rising of her chest. She has no body in this endless void to feel but the pain persists, picking at her being and feeding off her lack of hands to push away.

She feels the pressure of their hold before a quick snap in her presence signals their victory, the pressure releasing as their essence combines in hers and throws her existence into that of sounds and combined sensations.

She hears a commotion of voices, numerous to the point that even the softest of whispers become shouts that rattle her nonsexist bones. She tries to scream out, to call a stop to this barrage of nonsensical thought, but she has no mouth, no power as everything rushes into her.

_"__Momma? Are you home?"_

The girls peeks in the door before entering.

She was pushed down by the mean boy at school and now her face hurts. He laughed at her ill-fitting clothes and got mad when she had called him a name. She does not remember the name.

A strange noise comes from her room and she is curious. It sounds like someone watching her tiny television. Like animals from the vids in the wild.

The living room is empty. Her mother would be in here if she were home. Her mother had given her the only bedroom so she could work here. She loved her room.

She peeks into crack of the door.

"Momma?"

"Who the fuck is that?"

A strange voice. Not the voice of her mother.

"Oh shit. She's home. You get out of here Janey!"

The girl is scared at the sound of her mother's voice. She is frozen.

Her eyes widen as the crack of the door widens from shifting inside. She doesn't understand. Her mother and a man have become a monster. A writhing monster with hate in its eyes.

"God damn it Janey?"

Her mother screams and escapes the monster's grasp. Her mother's eyes are still full of hate as her hair is grabbed and she is drug away.

"You won't listen to me when I say get out? I'll make you stay out!"

Her mother drags her to the hall and shoves her against the wall.

"No momma! Please!"

"No! You stay Janey!"

The door is slammed and she is left alone.

Jane's world rushes in with a gasp, but not from her own lips.

Her eyes quickly focus and she steps away from the exhausted Asari with a frown. _What the fuck was that?!_

T'Soni has a palm to her forehead and her other hand at her chest as she pants heavily. The rest of the room are stunned, all of their eyes – except one's – on the swaying doctor as she tries to catch her breath and strength.

"I am sorry, Commander." She smiles a weak smile, obviously oblivious to Jane's own experience, as she speaks.

"Are you okay? Do you need to sit down?" Alenko kindly offers but the woman shakes her head.

"I think I just need to rest. Melding is always an exhausting experience." Jane's lip twitches slightly, suspicious of just how experienced this Asari is with melding. She's never heard of someone having such a hard time, but, then again, she doesn't have too many experiences to go by.

"What about you, Commander?" Williams looks to her, her eyes flickering to T'Soni with distrust.

"I'm good." Jane breaths deeply, trying to calm her speeding heart. "Did you get anything?" _Or in other words, was that wonderful trip down memory lane even worth it?_

T'Soni frowns and shakes her head with dejection. "I am sorry, Commander. No matter how hard I tried, I was only able to receive jumbled imagery of what you already described."

_Great._ "Then head to Dr. Chakwas and get checked out. For your stay on Therum and the meld." Jane looks to the rest of the room, her eyes catching the concerned look in her mate's crystal blue orbs. _Damn, should've known he'd catch that._ "The rest of you… dismissed."

True to their promise to stay secret, Garrus does not act out of place as he follows the order and leaves with the rest. She knows that later, though, he will want to talk, want to help, and she can't find fault in taking him up on the offer.

Anyone else would get a kick in the ass for even attempting, but he's always had her honestly even without their marriage. She just seemed to feel at ease with him around. Perhaps that is part of what brought them so close, his ability to support her and make it feel natural instead of showing weakness and his willingness to allow her to do the same.

Most of the crew has left their shifts, leaving the halls all but empty, and her team have been given the rest of the evening to relax and prepare for whatever the next day brings. Unable to force herself to join Williams, Alenko, and Wrex in the mess, she goes to her room to grab some pain relievers.

The meld has left her with one of the worst headaches she's ever felt. Each step she takes sends shockwaves up her skull and she feels like a hot liquid pain has settled just below the bone's surface. Even the headaches from her periods or biotic blowouts aren't this bad, this unnatural feeling, but she refuses to fall into bed to rest it off. She absolutely _does not_ want to dream about the memories just brought to the surface.

Hopefully she can clear her mind and let the pain settle enough to spare herself those thoughts. With that in mind, she tosses back two pain killers and washes it down with the bottled water on her tiny desk.

Once done, she trudges out of her room, sending a wave hello to her eating crew, and heads to the elevator. The cargo hold is the darkest part of the ship, with some areas nearly pitch black, but she readily admits she may have an ulterior motive for her path.

The doors open and her face falls to find that he isn't here, isn't in his normal place by the large tank. She huffs in disappointment, but heads over to the Mako, figuring she might as well enjoy the dark environment and the help it might offer her aching head.

She lifts herself to sit on the lip of the Mako's side and rests her head on the cool metal, sighing at the pleasure of the cooling sensation. At this height, she can swing her legs freely as she gazes off into the darkness, letting her mind drift and loss focus.

She doesn't know how long she sits there before she hears a soft chuckle. "I go looking for you only to find you here." She looks down with a smile. "And here I thought you came down to the cargo bay to talk to me. Turns out you just want me around for the Mako."

She snorts at her husband and runs a soft caress along the battle damaged metal above one tire. "You're damn right. Who could deny this beauty?"

He hums and flicks a mandible, the red lighting of the bay hitting of his silvery plates and shifting his colony paint into a different hue of color. "I know I couldn't…"

She laughs. "You're such a dork. Come here." She pats beside her for him to sit.

He shakes his head softly and moves to his terminal, only to return with two plates of mess hall food, one dextro and one levo. "I thought you should eat." She turns her head away from the plate with a grimace. "Don't be difficult. You ran yourself hard on Therum, we all did."

With a defeated sigh, she gives in to him, knowing he's completely right, and takes the plate of food. "Military grade Salisbury Steak. My favorite," she groans sarcastically.

"Count yourself lucky," he grunts as his slimy pile of…something. "This isn't even dextro, it's 'negative chirality'. Whatever that means"

She chuckles around a bit of food. "It's what the Alliance thinks passes as Turian food without actually having to _buy_ Turian food. It'll got the job done by it'll suck going down."

He throws his head back with a bite and has to bob his head to get it to slide down. Once it does, his head drops and he flicks his tongue out, disgusted, as his mandibles flap in upset. "Tell me about it."

Jane frowns in sympathy and swallows her bite. "How about I get you and Tali some better food when we dock? I can go out and get better food for the rest of us and say that I'm only getting dextro to be fair."

Garrus looks to her after struggling down another bite with hope in his eyes. "Not if it'll get you into trouble. Or cause suspicion."

She waves it off with a shrug. "You will know? As long as I make it look like that, then the most people can blame me for is being too fair to all of my team." She takes a bite. "If that's what they want to think, more power to them."

His mandibles flick, but he doesn't question her further, instead moving to his meal to try and fight the rest down. She figures the large bites he's taking are to make the torture pass quicker as she's used to seeing him savor food when it's good with smaller pieces.

When she gets to the point where she can no longer force herself to eat, he has finished his bite and takes both plates back to his station to sit out of their way. He returns to her side and sits close enough for Jane to feel his heat radiating off his body.

"Want to tell me about what happened with Liara?" He looks to her with an open expression, willing to take her refusal or acceptance as she chooses.

She sighs and holds her hand out in silent question. He purrs and pulls his glove off before happily giving her what she wants as he entwines his fingers with hers. She can't imagine her hand ever being able to not fall into this instinctual pattern anymore without effort and thought.

"When we melded... it just didn't feel right." She rubs her pounding head with her free hand. "I don't even know what the hell she was thinking or doing, but it was the exact opposite of what I wanted –and what she all but promised."

Garrus rumbles in concern and pulls her closer to run his free hand over her head and pulling the bun out. She makes a feeble attempt at protest that immediately quiets as the soothing feeling of warm hand running along her scalp does what her hand couldn't, the pain lessening enough to at least think.

She presses her head into his hand in silent thanks and continues, "When Asari's meld, it's easier to exchange information in a professional setting if they clear their minds. Liara _said_ she would, but she didn't." Jane huffs an exhausted breath. "I really should've insisted she wait, get checked up on by the doctor and completely rested, before doing it, but I didn't. She seemed so excited to see the Prothean beacon vision and I was hoping she'd be able to _do_something with it."

"But?" Garrus' voice soft and soothing, comforting and supportive to take things at her own pace.

"But when she melded… I don't know… I got the usual sensations – which aren't very pleasant to begin with, in my opinion." She closes her eyes, trying to draw the strength to speak her nightmares. "Then I saw… I saw my mother."

She can feel the subtle confusion and surprise in his rumbling vocals, but he doesn't speak. She strokes her free hand along his hand in hers. "I saw a memory of one day in my childhood. Let's just say it wasn't a nice one."

Garrus' chest thrums deep down in silent understanding and he pulls her closer to lay a soft kiss at her temple, a nip due to of his lack of lips but something she's come to desire more than any fleshy bit of caress. "I'm sorry," is all he says and those two words encompass everything that would ever need to be sad of this horrible day.

She smiles and kisses him softly on the mouth plates before shifting to nuzzle against him. They stay in each other's company late into the night until a yawn slips past her lips.

"You should get some sleep, Jane," he chuckles and stands, pulling her hands to get her to stand. She groans but follows, he letting her go to grab their plates to dispose.

He rides the elevator up with her, any straggling crew long since gone to bed or work during graveyard shift, and she considers the time he cleans their mess as the little moments to spend more time in his company. "I wish you could stay the night with me."

He hums sympathetically, sad notes of want in his tones. "I do too, Jane."

"I hate this stupid rule we made," she huffs and leans a hip against the counter. "What harm does it do to anyone but us?"

He hums again and drops his head to hers. "What if I stayed until you fell asleep?"

She smiles sadly and speaks softly, "I'd never fall asleep."

Her heart breaks at the longing in his eyes, but he doesn't respond in words, pulling her hand instead to take her to her cabin. He slowly unclothes her, leaving loving nips and flickers of tongue and mandibles upon each new bit of unrevealed flesh. He leaves no part of her body untouched, not discouraged by the vast expanse of scarring along her back or the branding of her regretful past, but his touch is not one of lust, but worship and silent devotion.

When she is down to nothing but her panties, he helps her into a large shirt and guides her under the covers. When she is settled, he takes a chair to the side of her bed and rests his head on her chest. She strokes his plates as he nuzzles into her, his low harmonics vibrating through him and into her body.

She doesn't know what to call his actions other than a type of lullaby as the rhythmic thrumming begins to seep into her body and spread through her muscles, making them heavy and stilling her hands around him. She thinks this is probably how Turians would sooth a fussy child because she can feel sleep pull at her mind despite her every try to stay awake, stay aware of one of her few times with him.

"Sleep, Jane," he purrs, the thrumming not stopping.

"I never knew you knew how to sing," she sleepily drones and he softly chuckles.

"Only for you." He words are vague sounds on her ears as she drifts under.


	13. Chapter 12

-Jane-

Despite her every intention of staying up last night to drag out her time with her husband, Jane recognizes she failed when she awakes from a deep sleep. Looking at her Omni-Tool tells her that it is just before first shift and she groans, dropping her head back into the hard pillow.

_Damn it, like it was all a dream. This tour is killing me._ She crawls out of the bed and shuffles to the wardrobe pull into the side of the wall.

The one good thing about Garrus' insistence of lulling her to sleep had been the fact that she slept deeply, completely absent of any thought or dreams aside from the rhythmic rumbling of his voice and vocals.

_He has a great voice though he'd never freely admit or accept it,_ she thinks as she pulls her pants up and buttons them around her hips.

She yawns and pulls off her shirt, tossing it somewhere on the floor to deal with later, and pulls a uniform top over her head. After quickly tucking it in and making sure it falls evenly in the mirror, she grabs her socks and shoes and moves to the bed.

As she pulls them on and ties the laces, she thinks back to the mess that was her melding with the young Asari yesterday. She's lucky if the woman didn't see into her head and wonders if she even saw the damn vision she was supposed to be going in for.

_Should probably take to the woman later about it,_ she determines and gets up to look at herself in the mirror.

Her hair is a mess, tangled and unruly, but she knows any intentions of brushing it while dry are futile. She combs trough it with her fingers enough to calm the rat's nest into flowing in one direction and starts to wrap it up into a bun. She pins it in place and checks to make sure it fits regulations, nodding in approval when her inspection passes.

She still has enough time for a relaxing cup of coffee and breakfast bar, so she grabs a packet of chocolate powder she stashed away in her personal belongings and goes out into the mess.

Most of her team are present and either eating or relaxing at the mess table. Williams and Alenko are chatting over trays of whatever slop constitutes as breakfast, Liara is picking at her plate with a solemn expression, and Tali has her helmet planted in her Omni-Tool and furiously types. The only people missing are Garrus and Wrex, but if the pile of dirty trays currently in the cleanser are any sign, Wrex was already here.

Jane frowns at the absence of her mate, but dismisses it with the thought that he probably has something important to do and grabs a coffee cup, pouring in the powdered chocolate before the hot liquid. She then grabs a protein bar and sits at the table between Alenko and Tali, Liara directly in front of her.

"So, I take it you're feeling better?" Jane politely asks, secretly searching the Asari for any signs as to what she saw in her head yesterday.

T'Soni startles a bit, but settles quickly. "Oh, yes. I… I wanted to apologize, Commander."

Jane sees the Chief raise her brow, but remain silent and focused on her plate in attempt to not look like she's eavesdropping. Jane takes a bite of her bar and takes the time to chew it before answering, still not sure how much she knows and not wanting to reveal what she doesn't have to.

"Apologize for what?" she finally asks, taking her cup to her mouth and watching over its lip.

"Well," she looks to her plate and pushes her food around. "I realize now that I may have let my emotions and thoughts influence what you felt during the meld. I apologize if whatever you felt was unpleasant."

Williams loses all façade of not listening and turns to the woman with a light frown. "I thought you said you were just going to look for the vision from the beacon. That the Commander wouldn't feel or see anything."

Jane holds a hand up in silent placation. "Easy, Williams." She puts the cup down. _No use playing coy with the whole table now paying attention._ "What exactly did you see, Liara?"

Her eyes widen and she shakes her head. "Oh! I didn't see anything but the beacon's visions, even if it was all jumbled and I couldn't really get anything from it." She drops her eyes and fidgets. "I'll admit I am not very experienced with clearing my mind when I meld with another and I think I may have let my emotions concerning my mother cloud your experience."

_That certainly would explain it._

"So the Commander sees something different than what you see?" Alenko questions, his brows furrowed in confusion as he tries to understand.

T'Soni rubs her neck, uncomfortable. "Well, yes. Two minds can choose to see each other's experiences, but that wasn't really my intention." She looks up to Jane, her eyes soft in sadness and regret. "I really am sorry, Commander."

Jane waves it off and shifts her attention back to her breakfast. Her two marines continue to question the doctor, curiosity taking over their better judgment of the woman's discomfort. She eventually begins to relax as the questioning leaves personal territory and instead moves onto the general knowledge of her people and their culture.

Seeing this, Jane looks over to Tali on her side who is back at her Tool. She can see the girl's eyes narrowed in happiness and she nudges her with a boot. "Find something interesting?" Jane asks low enough to keep the conversation between the two.

She nods and drops her head, embarrassed. "I'm just talking to a friend."

She smirks and an eyebrow lifts. "_Friend_, huh?"

"Oh, Keelah, Shepard." Tali huffs and makes a point to turn away, her head lifting in an exaggerated motion to ignore Jane. "You always have to make things awkward," she says over her shoulder.

"Damn skippy," Jane chuckles. "So… who is this friend? A guy?... A girl?" She nudges the girl with her foot again and Tali waves her away.

"Shepard, please." She turns back and hunches up her shoulders, giving Jane the idea that she's probably blushing a shade darker under her mask. "He's just a friend."

Not wanting to push her further, Jane just nods and lets her enjoy herself before they need to get back on shift. She finishes off her coffee and breakfast while she listens to the conversation at the table, adding some bits of clarification here and there but staying mostly quiet to enjoy the calm of the morning.

As the Lieutenant, Williams, and Liara clean their places, Joker come on over the intercom with a message from the Alliance marked urgent. Jane has him patch it through, worried what the urgency could mean.

"Commander, we have a situation that requires your expertise." She recognizes the voice as that of Admiral Hackett. She's never met the man personally, but it's common practice to learn the chain of command in the Alliance if you ever want to get anywhere. That, and the fact that the man has won many awards as he's risen up the ranks.

"A group of fanatical biotics have kidnapped the Chairman of the Parliament's Subcommittee for Transhuman Studies." Jane doesn't put up a fuss when Alenko takes her dirty cup and trash to dispose of, too occupied with the Admiral's words to even notice. "They have commandeered a freighter in attempts to discourage any attack as they set their demands. Get in there and take them down."

"Do we have any additional info in this recording, Joker?"

"One second… yeah. Looks like the Alliance has sent you a run-down of what kind of resistance you should be expecting."

Jane's Omni-Tool pings with the incoming information and she pulls up her interface. "Joker, set course for their ship," she says as she scans through the information, picking out the key pieces she'll need to go in and what she'll need for any advantage.

"Alenko," the man looks up from the disposal unit, "I need you suited up. These biotics are all L2 and I could use you to help me see if we can talk them down."

He gives off a quite aye and heads to the elevator, Jane close behind as she already knows who'll be her third. She'd rather go in expecting a fight than finding herself in a situation with her proverbial pants down.

-

She's glad she brought a team onto the MSV Ontario that knew how to disable and not kill. They found out quickly that the fanatics onboard were more than willing to kill the Chairman the moment they docked, leaving them with two choices: either take out any in their way with clean one shot kills or take them down quickly without ending their lives.

Though they were technically criminals, Jane felt for Alenko's sympathy and ordered Garrus to wound, not kill. Despite his initial confusion at the idea, he quickly switched tactics and brought biotic after biotic down with perfectly aimed shots to the knees and legs.

Now Jane finds herself staring down the proclaimed leader of this group as he aims a gun at the back of a cowering man, probably the Chairman.

"See how it is? You write letters and everyone ignores you." His gun jerks against the back of the Chairman's head at each word. "Force is the only thing people appreciate."

_Or the only thing that actually puts your dumb asses in danger of getting shot._

"So how about if I kill Chairman Burns and finish this little charade?" She hears the low rumble behind her of her husband, a wordless promise that the moment this man pulls the trigger, he's just as dead as the Chairman. She doesn't doubt the speed he can draw a weapon, she knows his trigger finger is as fast as his attitude, but she knows this won't end well if that route is taken.

"Please," the man cries and Jane can hear the exhaustion in his voice. "I was trying to help you people…"

The biotic shoves the pistol, hard, against the back of the Burns' head and Jane throws her hands up in a placating manner, putting herself in a nonthreatening positon. "Hey, easy. Let's not do anything we're going to regret."

"And why not? What have we got to lose?" He motions to the other two biotics in the room who stand with their weapon sights low and to the ground. "Since this bastard decided we don't deserve reparations for the hell we've had to live with, we've got nothing left to live for."

"But… but I've changed my m-mind," Burns stutters, he face red as tears of pure horror trail down his face. He coughs on phlegm and sniffles as he tries to continue, "Seeing y-you all, it's c-clear-"

The gun being shoved in at the base of his skull cuts his sentence off as he whimpers. "You have your chance. Some L2s can't even walk or speak thanks to the side effects from the implants. All of us suffer in some way, but you voted against us getting reparations!"

Jane frowns and points back to the loading bay where her team had to cripple more biotics just to get through. "This little show has already gotten biotics hurt. You pull that trigger, and they might as well be dead, not including countless others." She looks him straight in the eyes. "You're act has just made all L2s look like terrorists. What the hell do you think is going to happen to those not in your little group – those who also suffer - when your stunt gets out to the public?"

His firm grasp of the gun against the Chairman's skull falters a bit. "But people need to know what happened. They need to know what the government is responsible for and what they refuse to do for its people."

The Lieutenant takes a step forward, his hands raised to look less threatening. "People _will_ know with what you've already accomplished here. Ultimately dying isn't the way to make sure of it."

The two biotics lock gazes, the tension still and like a heat in the air that settles on Jane's skin, before the man lowers his gun. "You're right. I don't want to die and I don't want my people to die." He shakes his head and holds the gun loosely in his hand before letting it drop to the floor. "Maybe something will happen this time." His biotic guards follow his lead and drop their weapons as he raises his hands in the air. "We surrender."

Seeing that he no longer sits at the barrel of a gun, the Chairman scrambles up to his feet and away from the group of biotics with their hands out, taking a place closer to Jane and her team. "Thank you, Commander." His voice is calm and he scrubs the grime from his face. "I thought I would never come out of that alive."

He turns to the biotics and looks their leader in the eyes. "I'll see to it that the reparations bill is brought up for reexamination and reconsideration. I didn't know that L2s' situations were so desperate."

Jane scoffs and the man turns to her with a surprised look. "It was your job, Burns. You were damn lucky I'd rather see these people get their due than be put six feet under or I would've just let them shoot you." His mouth drops in silent shock and the biotics smile at his back. "I Fifth Fleet cruiser will pick you and the prisoners up and tend to the wounded."

She turns and leaves before he can collect himself, waving her team to follow behind. She's had enough of this ship and wants to be rid of the sniveling chairman who only cares about his decision when a gun gets pointed in his face by the ones he put out. She'd rather have the simple missions of getting in and killing the enemy than one where she gets to see the darkness and greed of her own kind.

"Do you think he'll keep his word?" The Lieutenant turns to her as they sit through the decontamination cycle of the Normandy's airlock.

"He damn well better or else he'll have more than a group of L2s pissed at him." Jane leans against the wall. "There's no way in hell he's going to make me look bad. I said he'd get them their reparations, he's going to get them."

Garrus tilts his head with a mandible flick. "You going to hunt him down and keep him at his word, Commander?"

She shrugs with a 'sure, why not' smile and Alenko laughs. "Remind me not to get on your bad side, ma'am," he says as the doors open to let them in the ship.

"Commander," Joker calls before she can get too far. "I called in the order to the Alliance. I figured you might want to take the call from Hackett?"

Jane nods, though he can't see her from his seated position, and approaches his place to use his terminal to speak with the Admiral. "This is Shepard. Go ahead, sir."

"Thank you for dealing with the hostage situation, Commander. We are pleased to hear from your pilot of how you managed to deal with the situation without critically wounding or killing the group of L2s. Your assistance above and beyond formal duties has been noted, Commander. Fifth Fleet out."

Joker closes the comm and looks to Jane. "Figured you might want some brownie points so I told him about the 'aim to maim, not shot to kill' order you gave." She frowns, knowing very well that that statement was a joke and silently threatening that he had better not have said that.

Joker smiles knowingly. "I didn't exactly say _that_, though. More like a 'hey, the Commander just made sure they'd never walk again, but they're alive so that's good'." She shakes her head, knowing the pilot simply explained what he heard over the comm and not what he actually claimed.

"You should work on your act, Joker. I can see right through." Jane leaves him to his work and heads off to get out of her uncomfortable armor.

She heads to the showers, figuring that since the armor cleansing unit is here and that they don't have plans for their armor until they reach the Citadel, she'll just shower and get into clean BDU's.

When she gets out, she heads over to Alenko's station with intentions of asking him to take a look at a biotic amp interface she had found while they were on the Ontario. It looked like it'd work better than what she had, but the Lieutenant's station had the equipment that would tell her for sure.

"Hey, Lieutenant," she says as she approaches him deep in concentration and not really wanting to startle.

"Oh, hey, Shepard." He smiles and puts down the Omni-Tool he was working on. "Did you need something?"

She holds up the amp upgrade. "Think you can take a look at this?"

He holds a hand out in silent question and she hands it over. He studies it for a moment before turning to his station and hooking it up to his computer by a set of wires. "Shouldn't take too long to test its threshold." He looks to her with a question in his eyes. "Would you like to stay while it runs?"

Jane shrugs. "Sure, got nothing else to do while we're flying. Unless the Alliance throws us another errand they need running," she says sarcastically. She's fine helping the Alliance, but a hostage situation isn't really something she was ever trained for and she isn't quite sure what 'expertise' she had that made Hackett ask. "What's on your mind, Lieutenant?"

"I just wanted to thank you for what you did back there. Being an L2 is hard and I appreciate you not going for eliminating the target." He scratches his upper arm and shifts his weight to one foot, while his eyes look out across the deck before returning to her. "I also wanted to thank you for taking me along. That was kind of personal for me and I'm glad you gave me the opportunity."

"It's no problem, Alenko. You'd be the best person to help talk them down." Jane moves to sit in one of the seats at his station. "I don't_always_ go in guns blazing, no matter how many times you people say otherwise."

He laughs, the sound seeming a bit forced and Jane's eyes squint a little at the oddity. "Thanks anyways, Shepard." He sits, his work station unable to be used while the test runs on her amp interface. "I know what you said earlier, but do you really think Burns will help those people? That he won't just go back on his word now that he's safe?"

Jane frowns at the fact that the Lieutenant is closer to the hard truth than he thinks. It's awfully cynical, she knows, but she never trusts people to do the right thing unless they've already proven it before and, so far, the Chairman hasn't really proven himself to be very caring of the L2s' plight. The question is, though, should she burden Alenko with that or should she lie to make him feel better?

Deciding to go with a mix of the two as the man seems like the kind of person to dwell on such matters, Jane shrugs with a fake smile of encouragement. "You never know, he could see the errors in his previous thinking and become the new fighter for the L2 cause. Sometimes people need to see things from the other side of the fence before they can understand the problem."

Kaidan smiles and nods in understanding. "I get you, Shepard." He huffs a laugh. "You know, I think you could've talked them on your own. You've got a way with words that'll turn an angry Krogan docile. I mean, look at Wrex."

Jane snorts and responds sarcastically, "Yeah, that's a perfect example: a Krogan bounty hunter who mostly likes me because I have the balls to talk back to him and call him on his shit. I'm sure that would've worked on a bunch of stressed out biotics."

"Well, I think you would've managed. I mean you are a biotic, so you know some of the prejudice they are going through."

Jane shakes her head and taps the back of her neck, at the base of her skull where the little scar from her implant surgery is. "I'm not an L2, remember? I don't get the headaches or crippling pain."

Alenko's eye furrow. "But you know how people treat you, like you're unnatural because of something you couldn't control. None of us wanted to be exposed in our mother's womb, but we did and for those that survived, we get looked down upon." He sits back in his chair and crosses his hands on his lap. "They taught us that all biotic kids are the same, no matter the implant and no matter the strength of our biotics, back at Brain Camp."

"Brain Camp." She frowns, thinking. "You said that before when we talked… I take it that's that biotic training at Jump Zero that happened awhile back?"

"Yeah, you know of it?" He looks to her in surprise and she nods. "Huh, I'm surprised you weren't in that program, yourself, considering how powerful you are on the field."

Jane shrugs. "I didn't even know I was a biotic until PT one day when I was training with another guy and nearly blew him across the field with a punch." She huffs a small laugh at the memory. "Come to think of it, that's probably why everyone wore pads when they spared with me."

The Lieutenant nods with a quirk to his lips at the thought. "I guess it is pretty odd having a sparring partner just biotically throw you out of the blue." He looks up, obviously falling into a memory. "I guess it's good you didn't go. Not a lot fun spending parts of your childhood training." She frowns with silent question. "There were other kids, but even then, it got kind of boring and we didn't have anything to do that wasn't training. No extranet, no activities on the base, that kind of thing."

Jane smirks, crossing her arms across her chest, and raises a brow. "Nothing, huh? Come on, you were a bunch of teenagers. Even I know you're blowing it out your ass with the whole 'nothing to do' story."

Alenko blushes and coughs. "No, not like that, Commander."

He looks up to her and she drops her arms from her chest. She was obviously wrong to think he'd be like any other marine to shoot the shit with, as she now sees that he's a more emotional person than she's used to seeing, a more romantic heart, and she doesn't quite know how to respond.

He takes her silence as a cue to continue. "We usually just played cards, read books, talk… There was this one girl, Rahna. She was an amazing friend, despite having a rich family back home. She was smart and beautiful, had the prettiest hazel eyes and loved poetry."

Jane can hear a bit of sadness in his voice, but wants to get him to continue despite her lack of experience with such a deep topic. She doesn't mind if he is a person who romanticizes life, he's still a good guy to talk to and it's nice to have a squad at her back that's easy to get along with off the field. If that means treading into serious talk territory and saving the light banter for someone else, then she can tough it out. "She seemed special."

He scoffs dismissively. "She was, but I never had the courage to do anything about it. I guess I thought it would fall into place on its own, but it never did." He shuffles his feet and rubs at his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Commander. Here I am loading you with my personal problems and you just wanted to pass the time while the programs check ran. I won't let it happen again."

Jane stands straight and shakes her head. _Sure, I would've have just laid my heart out, but I'm just like that._ "Don't worry about it, Lieutenant." She smiles. "I want everyone to know they can come to me with their problems?" _However weird they are when compared to the mission._ "I disheartened team is an issue for their leader and I'm willing to be an ear for anyone who needs it."

He smiles, his eyes bright with thanks. "That…means a lot, Shepard." He shuffles to his feet and takes her amp interface off of his terminal, disconnecting the wires and clamps.

"Here, this should be better than your amp on all levels." He hands it to Jane before he pulls back his hand and rubs the back of his neck, his eyes not focusing on her. "I can help you install it if you want."

Jane hasn't noticed his odd behavior as her attention is focused on the upgrade in her hand, turning it over idly as she examines its connectors and size. "Don't worry about it, Kaidan." She looks up to him, but he is no longer fidgeting. "Anything else?"

"Uh, no. Nothing else, ma'am." She nods in goodbye and takes her leave, deciding to get Chakwas' help on installing the amp upgrade before checking up on the rest of her crew.


	14. Chapter 13

-Jane-

"You know, I didn't think this would take so long," Jane huffs as Dr. Chakwas runs Omni-Tool over Jane to test the newly installed amp update.

"Well, if you had kept a better track of your amp, we wouldn't have to be spending so much time doing this." She makes a pointed look down to Jane from her standing height and Jane just shrugs. Chakwas rolls her eyes and walks to the other side of the examination table and checks the back of Jane's head. "How are you feeling? Any heat or pain?"

"Nope, right as rain… Can I leave now?" The doctor merely glares when Jane meets her eyes over her shoulder. Jane sighs and her shoulders slouch.

"This would go faster if you let me examine you."

"No, you're just saying that because you _want_ to examine me." She looks to the doctor with a raised brow. "I'm not falling for it, doc."

The older woman crosses her arms across her chest and her silver brows drop in a scolding frown. "Honestly, Commander. You act like I'm going to do inhumane experiments on you."

Jane snorts and points to her left hand. "You did stab me with a needle the last time I was here."

"That was for fluids," she scoffs. "You were out for fifteen hour and needed to be put on an IV. Besides, you weren't even awake when I did it."

"Still bruised like a bitch." Sure, Jane probably bruised because she ripped the IV out before the doctor could, but that little bit of information doesn't need to be brought up.

The doctor drops her arms and looks to the ceiling. "Commander, I promise I will not poke you with any needles but I need to do an examination to check how you're doing since Eden Prime. Not to mention the numerous _close calls_ I've been hearing you having."

Jane mock glares at the doctor, willing the silver haired woman to fall beneath her stare. Chakwas' shoulders drop and her eyes soften with…_understanding?_

"Commander, Shepard... Does this have to do with your _secret_?" Jane's brows furrow in confusion and the woman sighs. She then takes a step closer and lowers her voice as her hand goes to her chest to lay above her heart. "Your _secret_, Shepard." She places her other hand on the left side of her lower abdomen and Jane's eyes shoot open, her body jerking back hard enough she almost falls off the table.

"How the hell?..." Jane gasps and grabs at her tags – and rings – that lay under her shirt. "When I was brought in after the beacon…" She looks into the doctor's eyes, the first sign of fear and desperation she's ever shown on this ship in her emeralds. "Who all knows?"

Chakwas smiles warmly and places a soothing hand on Jane's shoulder. "Only I know. I'm sorry, but I had to remove your armor to examine you and I saw." She takes a step back. "Don't worry, Shepard. I take my duty seriously and would never do anything to ruin the trust between patient and doctor."

Jane's head drops and her finger fumble thoughtlessly around the bundle of precious metal and stone beneath her clothes. "Thank you," she says softly before hoping from the table. "I'll give you your exam."

Dr. Chakwas nods and moves to the front and back door of the med bay, locking them as Jane removes her clothing. Jane almost doesn't hear her words from where she's standing or past the shuffling of cloth as she strips. "Are they from the same person?"

Jane drops the last of her outer clothes and stands in her bra and panties as the doctor approaches, her Omni-Tool out and running a full exam. "Yeah, they're from the same person."

She softly touches the bond mark above her hip and Jane flinches slightly, her skin not used to hands not her own or Garrus'. Dr. Chakwas hums and examines the scar and surrounding skin. "You certainly cared for it. It's clean and healed beautifully."

_Hell yeah, it did._ Though Jane knows the doctor means it healed into a clean scar with little overall damage and not actually what Jane thinks when she thinks of the word 'beautiful'.

"I'm surprised you were able to find an ink that was safe for human skin, but I don't see any signs of infection or irritation." The doctor pulls away and moves her attention back to her full body scan. "You seem to have done plenty of research and it shows, Commander. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, I just wanted to make sure your bond mark had healed properly."

Jane smile and waves it off. "No problem. It was just weird at first."

Chakwas smiles and closes her Tool interface. "I'm not surprised. I hear Turians treat a bond mark like a sacred symbol on their partner's body. I wouldn't be surprised if your mate treated it the same."

_You have no idea,_ Jane muses as she thinks back to how Garrus would always try to either caress or kiss her bond mark and growl in appreciation when she returned the favor.

"You're all clear, Commander." The doctor grabs Jane's shirt from the table and hands it over. "You can get dressed now… And don't worry, what is said in confidence will remain a secret."

Jane smiles, grateful, at the doctor, her face warm with a mother-like love for the soldiers in her care. "Thank you, Dr. Chakwas. It… means a lot… to me and my partner."

The woman only nods and leaves Jane to dress in peace.

"So then I look up and all I can think is 'who the fuck is shooting an anti-tank gun at us?!'" Jane exclaims to her team as they eat dinner around the mess hall table. "Then, to make thing even more insane, we hear," she lowers her voice and forces it into a monotone, "'Amused: You missed them'-"

"No way," Ashley interrupts, trying to hold in a smile. "You're telling me there was an Elcor laying your team out?"

Jane smiles. "Oh, you don't know the worst of it." The room is filled with wide and eager eyes and Jane clears her throat, trying to fall back into the story. "So we hear _that_, but then we get the shock of our lives when we hear," she tries her best to make her voice gain and airy quality, "'Silence! This one will not take back-talk. Re-orient us!'" The room erupts into laughter and Jane smirks.

"You're full of it, Shepard," Wrex scowls past his rumbling laughter.

Jane crosses her arms and leans back in her chair. "I can't make this shit up. I'm not that good of a liar, Wrex."

Kaidan pushes his empty plate aside and leans on his elbows on the table. "So, you're telling us that you're N7 team had to face an Elcor and Hanar with an anti-tank weapon? How does that even work?"

Garrus snorts. "I take it that's not the worst part?"

Jane lets out a quick laugh at the thought of just how much worse it got that day. "Oh, it was much worse." She leans towards her makeshift setup of the base she made using utensils and packets from their respective dinners. "So these two were up on the second floor, just laying into us and making damn sure we were pinned down – and insulting us too, that Hanar had a mouth on it. We didn't know whether to laugh or run like hell, it was un-fucking-believable."

Tali scoots closer, "What did you do?"

"The only thing we could do. We played musical chairs with the available until someone could get close and lay explosives here," she points to the row of knives that represented the barrier to the second level, "and blasted the bastards down from their perch."

"Did that take care of them?" Liara asks after taking a sip of her cold tea.

Jane snorts and throws a hand. "You kidding? Hell no." She grabs the coconut cake that she used as the Elcor and removed the cherry from the top that she used as the Hanar. "This fat bastard was under enough rubble to give us a chance to get to him and make the gun useless," she holds up the cherry, "but _this_ prick? Oh, we didn't notice he was gone until one of our squad starts screaming on the top of his lungs."

She grabs one of the cold French Fries that she used as her and her team and shoved the cherry on top, some of the members of the room understanding and chuckling softly as she continues. "We all turn and this stupid jellyfish has its tentacles wrapped around Pileck's body and it's screaming – or saying, really, since the damn translators don't have any other tone – 'This one wishes for you to open your facial orifice so that this one may preform actions of an offensive nature'."

Some of the room laughs, namely Wrex and Garrus, laugh, their heads thrown back, while others make gagging noises - Ashley and Tali - and others either blush – Liara - or chuckle with a shake of their heads - Kaidan. Jane smiles in sweet satisfaction and relaxes in her seat.

When she had come up with the idea to get the team together to share some time to try and bond because they were on a straight away to the Citadel with no missions on hand, she didn't know what to expect but she's happily surprised. What first started out as swapping stories to try and boast or compare bests became a means to try and entertain for the shear thought of entertainment.

Eventually things had gone around the table and Jane was the one left to top all the rest. She thought it was best not to throw punches and surprise them with probably the most ridiculous set of circumstances and enemies she has ever faced in her entire life. Turns out, running around like chickens without heads while being insulted by a giant pink blob and lumbering giant was quite the story.

"Please tell me you finally beat these guys." She turns to Kaidan with a shrug.

"That's the thing, Lieutenant. We did manage to untangle Pileck and pile on top of the Elcor enough to hold him down for the Alliance to come and take them in, but reinforcements arrived right as we tried to take them into a shuttle. Are only options were to fight, and probably die due to our exhaustion and lack of ammo, or let them go and try to run." She shrugs with a frown. "Alliance calls us out, so we listened."

"Damn," Wrex sums up and the room silently agrees.

"But damn good story. Don't think any of us can beat a Hanar telling someone to basically 'suck it'," Ashley says with a smirk as she drinks the last of her carbonated energy drink. "I think I'm hitting the showers." She stands and takes her tray.

Wrex stands and swipes his arm across the table to drag most of the various trash onto his large metal tray. "I have to respect my shotgun. _Someone_," he pointedly looks to Jane, "decided to go and remove my explosive ammunition."

"You overheat more, Wrex," Jane calls to him as he dumbs his trash in the disposal. A shrill ping comes from Tali on Jane's right. "Uh oh, got to go?" she jokes to the young Quarian once Tali pulls up her Tool to investigate.

"Uh," she stutters, her hands twisting in embarrassment. Jane smiles and waves her off, granting her the benefit of not having to justify her reactions.

She hurriedly leaves the table and heads off for her bunk where she can have some privacy, her mind too occupied with her Tool that she forgets her empty plate and tray. Jane chuckles and piles the articles on top of her own and starts to clean up the remaining make-shift story book that lays before her.

"I really liked this idea, Shepard." Kaidan smiles, his eyes only focused on her as she works. She sees the subtle flick of Garrus' mandible, a wave of suspicion in his blue eyes, but she doesn't show hint of notice as her Lieutenant continues. "You aren't like other commanding officers. It's… nice to get a chance to see past the mask."

If the man's attentions weren't so focused, he'd clearly see the jerk of her mate's head at the remark or the lowering of brow plates. Luckily, Liara can't see it either as her view in blocked by Kaidan, but Jane reaches out her foot, stretching to the far end of the table, and taps Garrus' toes in silent assurance. She doesn't need him reading too far into the Lieutenant's actions to cause a fuss and she really doesn't want to try to explain when a possessive Turian lets loose.

"Well," Jane offers when she finally feels her husband's foot nudge her back in return. "I'm glad I could offer everyone a chance to unwind and not act like soldiers. Just because we're on a mission doesn't mean we have to treat every moment like we're on duty."

"You're a truly unique person, Shepard." Liara's eyes are bright and hopeful as she adds into the conversation. _Not this one too. What, did I fall into something?_

"I think I should probably head to my bunk." Kaidan backpedals and rubs his head. "I think I feel the start of a headache and I'd rather be in bed if it hits. Shepard." He takes his tray and moves to the disposal. _One down. Thank you, awkward tension._

Garrus makes a show of picking at the remaining food on his plate, even swallowing some of the vile food to her surprise. Jane realizes exactly what he's doing and fights back the smirk as she watches Liara pointedly look to him.

After a moment of the Asari trying to will him away, she sighs, her shoulders dropping just a fraction in defeat. "I believe I must go to bed, as well." She stands and Jane can see the reluctance with every force of movement. "I would hate to not be fully rested when we arrive on the Citadel," she says with a smile that seems forced.

Jane really doesn't have anything against the woman or Kaidan, but she just doesn't want to deal with the drama. It would be some much easier if they said what they meant and got it out in the air, then she could tell them straight that 'no, she's not interested and only wants this to be a friendship'. The whole blushing, complimenting, and dancing around the issue thing is damn annoying but she can't really do anything about it.

If she comes out and says what she thinks, she's certain she'll insult them because even they don't seem completely aware of what they're doing. Then again, what is going to happen once they finally decide and she rejects them? Sure, she'll do it with grace and all the kindness she can muster, but what then?

_Ugh, this is why I never used to mix friendships and sexual relationships. I used to always have such a grasp of these things._

It's the smooth voice of her love that finally pulls her out of her chaotic train of thought. "You know those two want you right?"

She looks up to him and sees a strange mix of emotions in his eyes. She recognizes the anger, but the others are confusing and odd, a sadness but also heat and desire. _Oh my god. Is he jealous!?_

"Garrus," she quickly scans the room to check that there is no one around. "Are you angry about them?" She scoots over a chair and lays her hand out to him.

He takes her hand and grunts in the negative, a hint of disbelief in his vocals. "No." His words sound true, but she's been with him long enough to recognize the lie in his harmonics. The fact that his eyes are more focused on their hands all but assures it.

"Garrus, look at me." He does as she commands and she sees the tiniest bit of hurt, of pain, in the icy plains of his eyes and her brows draw together in sadness. "Garrus, you never have to worry about them."

His mandible flicks in agitation. "I hate watching them fawn over you, like a valuable pet or fragile child. Even their damn pheromones are nauseating." He sighs, trying to calm his growling undertones.

"Do you want me to put them in their place?"

He growls and drops his head into his free hand, his elbow on the table. "I know you're letting them come to terms first and when they do, then you'll let them down. You don't want to ruin a friendship because you reject them before they even know they want you." He looks up to her and squeezes her hand. "I just wish your stupid species could smell each other. We wouldn't have this problem."

She smirks and raises a brow. "My 'stupid species,' huh? You've never complained about that before."

He groans. "You know what I mean." He drops his free hand on the table and falls silent, his eyes on their intertwined hand as his fingers lightly stroking against hers. She watches a plethora of emotions pass over his features, but the one it settles on makes her stomach drop.

His brow plates are lowered, his eyes dark, his mandibles low, and a higher register of thrumming echoes though his chest, things she's only ever seen when he talks about his father, about his perceived failure to live up to expectations. Jane's never seen his discouraged over their relationship and it hurts, it hurts like her heart is being ripped out.

"Hey," she says, immediately standing to move before him. "Hey, look at me." She takes his head in her hands and lifts it to look into his eyes. "Talk to me. Tell me what's in that head of yours."

"This ship, Jane. It… it's making me see all of the things I can't do for you." He clasps his hands over hers. "We have to hide everything about us from everyone aboard. Even off the ship, we have to hide. What good is it to you, a Spectre now, to be tied down to some nobody who you can't even acknowledge?"

Jane drops to her knees and presses her forehead to his, silently demanding he shut the hell up, stop this ridiculous thinking, but she knows he can't, and that even he needs assurance sometimes. "I love you, Garrus Vakarian. I don't care if you were Hanar, Elcor, Asari, or Volus, and I don't care if you're a cop, a Spectre, a solider, or a stay at home husband who does nothing but sit on the couch and eat all the food. I love you and there's nothing that will change that." She kisses him, a warm open-mouthed press of lips to plates as their hot breath mix.

"And I will show you just how much I love you when we dock at the Citadel tomorrow," she says against his plates, her soft lips caressing with each movement. "I will show you something you've never felt before. Something I know you'll love and I promise you, I will never regret what I have with you. The sense of heaven I found in your embrace."

He purrs a high sound of need and presses into her, claiming her mouth for his own as his tongue dives between her lips. She lets him kiss her, passionately giving him every ounce of desire and want and devotion he needs as he eagerly returns the sensations. They stay together until they can no longer stand the burning in their lungs and pull away to suck in air.

"I love you, Jane Vakarian," he rumbles, his warm hand against her cheek. "I wish I could take you here, on this very table. Mark this entire mess with our scent so strongly that even your weak human noses could smell it." He purrs and nuzzles her forehead, his mandibles flicking against her cheeks. "But I know we can't, so I will wait and hold you at your promise."

He drops a kiss to her lips and stands, helping her off the floor so that they can clean up their mess on the table. When their trash is completely disposed of, Garrus walks Jane to her room, but stops outside the door.

"Sure you won't tuck me in?" she asks with a soft smile.

He hums and strokes a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm afraid that if I let you drag me in there, tucking you in will be the last thing on my mind."

She chuckles softly and leans up on her tip toes for one last embrace, her arms going around his neck and he holds her waist. "Good night, Vakarian," she says between a loving kiss and forehead press.

"Good night, Vakarian," he rumbles with a mandible flick before letting her go.

Though she desperately wishes she could stop him as he turns away and heads for the elevator, she knows with all her heart that they can't give in, can't take the time for themselves with so much at stake, and it hurts, it hurts more than anything.

~SquigglySquid says: The Hanar and Elcor nightmare came from the demented mind of The Mirage of Deceit. Beware the evil that is a tank cannon mounted on an Elcor and controlled by a foul-mouthed Hanar!


	15. Chapter 14

-Garrus-

Garrus had received the same message as the rest of the ground team, to report to the mess hall for morning breakfast and a quick review of the Commander's plans for their docking at the Citadel.

He knew that, contrary to her claims, Jane didn't like the thought of being separate from those below her simply because they had to fall into a pecking order on the field. He understood that her efforts to try and get everyone to come to, at least, friendly enough terms off duty to speak and spend time around each other weren't just for their mission. To his wife, the squads she spent time with became her family and she wanted to try and get others to see and feel the same way.

It's because of this that he isn't against the thought of coming together for meals and talking, whether to discuss mission debriefs or share the more meaningless conversations of their past experiences and funny stories. What he didn't find himself agreeing with was the thought that some of their group seemed to have an inability to see her friendliness as only that and not more.

_Sure, I'm upset seeing them swooning over her,_ he thinks as he presses the control of the lift to bring him up a level. _I would never do anything about it, I trust her, but it still doesn't make it any easier to sit through._

He sighs, dismissing the thought with the knowledge that he'll let her do this her way. He understands most of the other species have certain ways of dealing with things and figures she'll figure something out without ruining all the work she's put in to being friendly and building trust.

He rounds the corner to find most of the crew either sitting down to breakfast or gathering a tray of whatever yellow stuff counts as the levo breakfast. He thinks it looks a bit like the stuff Jane used to refer to as 'eggs' when she'd get them at home, but he's doubtful as these seem awfully wet and smells like sulfur.

"Here you go Garrus." Tali hands him a plate. "They only had Chura'Kel grain, so I figured I'd make yours with my extra hot water." Her eyes squint in a friendly smile when he takes the offered food with an appreciative nod.

Jane sits at the table, her attention intently on a datapad in her hand as she waits for everyone to get settled. The damned Lieutenant passes by, his sickening scent of hopeless infatuation making Garrus' nose twitch as he rushes to Jane's side to hand her a steaming cup.

Garrus holds back his satisfied grin and vocals as he watches Jane frown at the cup before handing it back. "No thanks, Alenko. I don't take coffee without something to deaden the taste."

The man stutters as everyone takes their seat around the table. "Would you like me to get you some creamer and sugar?"

Garrus stares down at his plate, clenching the one hand below the table in efforts to hold in his growl at the man's blatant mooning. Obviously, Jane is the only one who can interpret his tense shoulders and he's thankful to her his mate's stern voice turn towards the Lieutenant.

"No. I don't want coffee." She motions to the table. "Will you take a seat? The sooner I get done with this, the sooner everyone can go."

Everyone at the table scowls at the man, most at the fact that she seems to be hinting at possible shore leave but two for other reasons, one of which isn't recognized because of lack of knowledge of Turian expressions.

"Uh, sorry, Commander," he stammers and quickly drops to a seat and drops his eyes to his plate.

"Right." Jane looks to the rest of the group. "Here's the plan if things don't go all to hell: we dock at the Citadel and everyone is free to go as they please for thirty-six hours." A silent cheer flows over their faces, but Jane holds up a hand to stop any interruption. "_If_ it turns out that I need assistance with anything or we need to leave the Citadel ahead of time, have your comm signals open for anything from either myself or the Normandy. I think it also goes without saying not to leave the Citadel." She snorts. "Actually, if you can find a way to get off station and back within that time, you deserve an award or something."

A mumbled mix of enthusiastic thanks and expected plans fill the room as the crew moves to their breakfasts with renewed vigor, not wanting to waste the time they are cleared from docking procedures and released out onto the vast station. Wrex's shoveling of food doesn't seem out of the ordinary, but Garrus is smugly pleased to see that even the blue Asari and weird fringed human male have held off on their fawning to clean their plates.

He meets his spouse's eyes over the table and she gives him a slight twitch of her lips and a subtle nod at his plate, the gritty porridge that's completely unappetizing despite Tali's best efforts. It's not like he doesn't appreciate the gesture, but he's a Turian, a young male in his prime, and the thought of his whole breakfast consisting of something without any meat, any warmth from the thought of it as a kill, just doesn't appeal to him.

He pushes the substance around with his utensil and sees the slight twitch upward of Jane's brow. "You going to eat that?" she seems to silently ask.

He takes notice that out of the whole table, she doesn't seem to have anything before her besides the bottle of half-drunk water. He quickly scans the table to see that, yes, everyone is still either focused on their plates or idle chatter of what they plan to do with their time. At that, he flicks a mandible softly and uses the flat of his utensil to pat the top of his makeshift mountain of mush. "Not really," he sends over.

Her lips quirk at the corners and she nods just enough for him to catch but not catch any stray attention. "Good," he thinks she says before she turns to her datapad.

"Oh," Jane exclaims once most have finished their meals and moved on to cleaning. "Before I forget… Set your leave to begin the moment we receive the all clear from Joker. I don't want to hear any excuses that you didn't know the clock started when it did. We clear?" She looks pointedly at each of her crew, receiving silent agreements all around. "Alright then, with the ship already docked and just wanting for the 'go-ahead,' you guys can take off to go pack up." She waves those standing away and moves her attention back to her datapad.

"What are you reading, Shepard?" Liara asks with interest as she takes a seat again, her meal obviously over but still insisting on conversing.

Jane looks to her, one brow raised in silent judgment. "Stuff," she says before taking a drink of her water.

Garrus wants to laugh at the flabbergasted face on the doctor, but he holds it in. Tali, on the other hand, puts her bowl back on the table and tilts her head. "What's the big secret, Shepard?" she teases.

_Playing with fire, Tali,_ Garrus muses as he sees Jane smirk and her brows shift in amusement.

"Oh? Care to tell us what _your_ big secret is?" Tali sputters, her eyes blinking rapidly as she backpedals. "You who been talking to, lass?" Jane asks in an accent Garrus has come to see her use when she jokes sometimes. It's an old impression of her mother, and though he knows most memories of her mother are not pleasant, she did always say she loves the lilt of her voice and the unique words she spoke.

Tali first squints her eyes in confusion at the strange word added in, but then she quickly notices the true question and her eyes widen in stunned shock. "Uh…nobody," she stammers, grabbing her plate quickly, scrambling to pick up her utensil as it fell from the bowl. "It's nobody, Shepard. Just a friend… honestly!"

"Uh, huh," Jane smirks around the neck of her bottled water as the girl rushes to dispose of her trash. "Really believable Miss Zorah nar Rayya." She turns to T'Soni, giving Tali the much needed break from her teasing. "I'll have you know, T'Soni, that this," she holds up the datapad, "is a run-down of shows happening at the Citadel right now."

Liara's eyes brighten in excitement and she shifts slightly closer, not leaving her seat but still enough for Garrus to notice the shift. "I heard there is a showing of a new movie called Vaenia on Bachjret Ward. It's already topped the box office in all Asari space and tells the tale of two strong women finding love on the battlefield."

_Is this woman really that naïve to think Jane can't pick up on this?_ Garrus would almost say something to end this aggravation and throw Jane's rule into the wind, but Liara's shear desperation stops him.

Jane looks straight into the doctor's eyes and her brows drop in puzzlement. "Uh, no thanks, Liara." She smiles weakly when T'Soni's expression drops. "I'm not really a romance vid kind of person. No offense, but that mushy stuff isn't my thing."

The woman blinks and opens her mouth once, before closing it and frowning. After a moment of thought, Liara nods and looks up to match her blue eyes with Jane's green. "I understand, Shepard." She offers a smile, which is obviously forced and hollow. "Maybe later we can meet up for something else?"

_As Jane would say, 'fat chance.'_ Jane's mouth subtly quirks in confusion as she seems to be trying to figure out how to politely answer. Thankfully, like an answer from the spirits that Garrus doesn't even believe in, the pilot, Joker, comes over the intercom. "Alright everyone, looks like the party has officially started! Set your clocks now and have at it."

Jane glares at the ceiling. "Really, Joker? There's no party and nobody should be 'having at it' at all. Don't you go turning my crew into a bunch of pain in ass slackers like you."

"Ah, I'm hurt, Commander."

Jane just shakes her head as the low fizzle that Garrus associated with the intercom shuts off and turns to her remaining squad members. "Well, you heard the man. Your leaves are officially started." She stands, taking her water and datapad. "I still have some last minute requisition orders to go over and approve."

Garrus rumbles in amusement. "I think the saying goes 'no rest for the wicked', Commander?"

She laughs as she tosses her empty bottle away. "Keep that up, Vakarian and I'll make you stay in and spend your whole leave on the Mako."

A sound that's a mix between a chuckle and a giggle escapes T'Soni as she stands and looks to Jane, the sound making Garrus' mandible flick in annoyance. "I'm certain you'd never do that, Shepard. You're too kind of a person."

Jane's eyes connect with his for just a moment, sharing a quick and silent laugh over the truth, before she looks to Liara with a snort of dismissal. "You obviously don't know me very well." Jane doesn't say anymore as she leaves to the elevator, probably off to finish up the last of her duties before getting her own time off.

T'Soni huffs in defeat and leaves the mess, obviously too focused on Jane's dismissal if her complete ignorance of his remaining presence in anything to go by. Garrus doesn't mind, though, and actually breaths deeply once he no longer worries of filling his lungs with the nauseating scent of the Asari's arousal that reminds him of the sea salt and minerals. It didn't take personal experience to soon connect the smell to the cause once Garrus was able to see the woman pine over his wife in person and the result made his plates itch in agitation.

"You just going to push that around your plate and imagine it changes?" He had heard the Krogan's footsteps from the moment the elevator reached this level, but the reason he was actually here instead of leaving alluded the Turian. "Even I think that's disgusting."

Garrus looks over the table to the Wrex, standing with a giant grin plastered on his face. "What are you doing standing around here for? Can't stand to be away from my company?" He flicks a mandible in aggravation. "Need someone to hold your hand on the big, bad Citadel?"

The Krogan laughs, full and hearty. "You've got gall, kid. No wonder you got the mate you do." He drops a duffel on the table and various weapons fall out. Garrus raises a brow plate in question, but Wrex ignores it. "Little pyjak has a quad."

Garrus growls and glares at the massive Krogan. "You really going to call her a pyjak? You _do_ know we're supposed to act civil around each other?" Though he'd like nothing more than to argue all day with the irritating Krogan, he remembers full-well a promise and his wife made last night.

Wrex chuckles and moves to the kitchen to grab a pack of nutrient bars, shoving them into his pack alongside the guns. "You'd know if I wasn't 'acting civil'."

_Strange as it seems, I do know._ Garrus sighs and stands, taking his plate in hand and nodding to the bag as the Krogan throws it over a shoulder. "You aren't planning on something, are you, Wrex?"

"You'd think I'd be stupid enough to try and piss off Shepard by stealing her food and guns?" He grins over his shoulder as he lumbers away. "Got some grub on the way if I do your woman a favor."

Garrus chuckles under his breath once he knows the man is long gone and unable to hear. _Leave it to her to make it seem like she isn't really doing a good deed and is just bribing her crew, instead._ He disposes of his trash and heads out to finally begin his leave, hoping his wife will be around shortly.

He enters the CIC to see Jane talking with the pilot in the cockpit. She nods a goodbye to Wrex as he enters the airlock and one to Garrus when he arrives shortly after.

"Sorry, Garrus. I think Wrex just started the airlock right as you were coming up." She leans up from the terminal before the pilot, a smile on her face at his exasperated rumble. "I'm done here anyway, so might as well both go out when the cycle is done."

"Sure, Commander," he says with a calm and professional voice, but his mandible twitches in a returned smile.

"You live on the Citadel, right?" She idly makes small talk, hinting quickly at the possibly eavesdropping pilot.

"Yeah," he huffs a laugh at the awkward question. "It'd be kind of hard not to since I work at C-Sec."

The pilot snorts, but quickly pretends to work when Jane scowls at him. When she returns to him, her brows are dropped in her typical 'I know that, you jerk, just humor me' look. "Well, I just thought that maybe your family had a place here since you said your dad's been with the force for… well, forever, it sounds like."

He wants to joke, wants to respond about how they wouldn't be able to get much peace if that were true, but he can't, so he simply shrugs. "Just how old do you think I am, Commander?"

Joker can't stop the laugh at that and Jane sighs in defeat. She throws her hands up just as the airlock pings its completed cycle, deciding not to respond or clarify and instead just enters the chamber. "I should make you wait a-whole-nother cycle…"

"Uh, oh. You did it now." Joker spins his seat enough to look over at Garrus. "Better wait until the next cycle anyways, just to be safe."

"Now, Vakarian," she calls and it's like music to his ears, even if they're supposed to be pretending to be arguing. He shrugs at the pilot and receives a frown and shake of a head before being left to his supposed ill fate.

Through the entire decontamination cycle, Jane gives him a smoldering glare. To those who aren't privy to their little secret, she would seem to be absolutely livid at him, but he knows the truth. He knows those narrowed eyes aren't full of hate, that her dark eyes only shine with desire, with expectation of their trip home.

He barely contains the lustful growl in response and fights his body against acting on her rising sweetness of arousal. He can hardly wait until they're behind the privacy of their apartment walls and he knows he'll be on her the moment the door closes them off from the galaxy.

That look is gone, though, the moment the airlock opens and gives him the sight of an Alliance officer standing at the end of the gangplank. The man wears a formal uniform and hat that Garrus has seen on the higher ranking officials of Jane's military.

Jane walks out to the man and offers a quick salute. "I take it that your inspection is complete, Admiral?" Her voice is flat and her posture stiff, her typical attitude when she's dealing with someone she's fighting to stay polite to despite her internal displeasure. Why she seems to already be angered with the man, Garrus doesn't know.

"Commander, I'm not happy." The Admiral scowls at the ship at Jane's back.

Jane's brow quirks and she shifts her posture, starting to lose her calm demeanor. "This seems to be the norm with you, Admiral."

Garrus' fights his mandibles to stay in position when the Admiral's mouth puckers a moment before relaxing. "Commander, I suggest you secure your mouth. It's bound to get you into trouble one day and you are _still_ Alliance. I deserve respect." He shakes his head and frowns. "Who designed that CIC? Putting the commanding officer aft of everyone else is inefficient. What if they need to discuss thing with the operators toward the bow?"

_What other way would there be?_ Jane breaths deep, her shoulders lifting and dropping with a deep breath. "Obviously you've never seen a Turian ship, Admiral." He notices her dismissive use of the man's title. "They stand behind their subordinates, instead of in the middle of them. From what I've seen, you're better keeping mindless chatter and slacking off away if you place the commanding officer in a place where they can see all. Would you really want those at your backs to get the opportunity otherwise?"

He's impressed that Jane remembered that from one of their passing conversations. He's always known she agreed with the Turian design over the Alliance's for that same reason, but he didn't really think she'd bring it up to the Admiral.

The man hums and brings a hand to his chin, eyeing Garrus quickly before turning back to Jane. "A reasonable enough idea… but it should have been tested in a lab or controlled setting, not on a front-line warship that's already cost so many credits." He shakes his head and drops his hand. "It's obvious that it'll never stick, but that drive core of yours?" Jane's brow lifts. "One hundred and twenty billion credits of element zero? We could have made drive cores for twelve thousand fighters with that money! What good is it to hide for a few hours, anyway?"

"Do you not read your history, Admiral?" She crosses her arms. "Every breakthrough in technology was only possible because someone shelled out the money to make it happen. Early aircraft, subs, and tanks wouldn't even exist if people listened to those with limited visions."

The Admiral glares. "I could take that one of two ways, Commander, but I see your point. Now, the last thing I need you to explain is your crew." He looks to the ship, his brow lowered and his lips quirked in distaste. "Is this a joke? Krogan? Asari?" He turns to her and doesn't hide his scowl at Garrus over her shoulder before his eyes turn to her. "Turians? What are you thinking? You can't allow alien nationals free access to Alliance equipment!"

"Excuse me?" Jane takes a step forward, her subtle open palm at her side telling Garrus to hold back when he growls low with her anger. "I command this ship and if you think I'm going to carry that typical racist bullshit the Alliance seems too blind to call out, you're out of your god damn mind." She points a finger in his face, her eyes burning with loathing. "I have authority to choose whoever I damn well please to watch my back and if you have a problem, take it up with the brass. I'm sure they'll be happy to hear that the Commanding Officer of the 63rd Scout Flotilla doesn't approve of humanity's first Spectre trying to show that the Alliance can play nice with the Council races."

The Admiral's face pulls in at her words and his fists clench. If he tries anything, Garrus is more than willing to step in, saving Jane from having to punch a superior officer and taking the chance to punch the xenophobic asshole.

Suddenly, the Admiral whips his hands to his back and takes an 'at rest' stance, his face still maintaining the stern disapproval. "If you want them on board so bad? Fine. Don't quote ranks and regulations at me." He breathes deep and glares, but Jane doesn't flinch. "You have anything else to say, Commander?" he grits out through his clenched teeth, his body tense with barely controlled anger. "Any _other_ justifications for the state of this vessel?"

"I do, actually." Jane steps back and looks over the Normandy. She turns to him and drops her brows. "Get your head out of your ass for once and see that this isn't just an Alliance ship that you think was a waste of money, it's a way to show that humans deserve what we're demanding from the Council. That we aren't Krogans, only intent on self-advancement and willing to kill anything in our way. Put your petty preferences and grudges aside and look at the big picture, even if you have to swallow your pride."

Garrus has heard Jane get after crew members before with similar speeches, but he's never thought she'd stand up for this belief at the possible cost to her Alliance reputation. Her sense of thinking about the whole of humanity and its interests, putting her opinions on politics and race aside, has always been something he's admired about her.

She may claim to not want anything to do with the political aspect of her new position, but she clearly knows how her actions and the actions of those of her species in the highest ranks affect others' views. She's slowing trying to fight the uphill battle against her own kind's distrust and prejudice of other species with intentions of helping humanity look better in all eyes, including his own people.

The Admiral huffs at her remark and shakes his head. "It's _your_job to look good and the Alliance Navy's job to win wars." Jane shakes her head but lets the man continue, obviously now willing to argue with this stubborn idiot. "I'm still not convinced that the Normandy isn't a complete waste of tax payer money, but I can clearly see that you believe otherwise. I also believe, despite our differences, that you can best use this ship to the best of its ability." He sighs and his face finally loses all ire. "I will be submitting my report to the Joint Military Council. It will not be as negative as I had planned."

He salutes and Jane follows suit, their disagreement forgotten for protocol. "Good hunting, Commander Shepard. Make us proud." He leaves, taking the elevator down and giving Garrus the opportunity to turn to his wife.

"I'm starting to agree with Wrex about you."

She snorts a derisive laugh. "That I have a quad? Luckily to can attest against that claim."

He flicks a mandible and joins her where she's leaning against the railing, trying to catch her breath. "I've certainly never seen anyone rip into a superior quite like that."

"Oh, really?" She turns to him with a smirk. "Because I _clearly_remember a certain Turian hothead who constantly gets into heated arguments with every superior officer in C-Sec."

He rumbles in his chest and shrugs. "No idea who you're talking about."

"Uh, huh." She raises a brow. "Come on, neither of us has eaten and I can't wait to get you home."

He doesn't hesitate to follow her with an interested purr of vocals, his attentions solely focused on the fastest way to their apartment.


	16. Chapter 15

-Jane-

The moment the door closes, they are on each other, her lips immediately claiming his plates and her tongue darting between his parted lips to stroke along his sharp teeth before tangling with his long and alien tongue.

When they pull apart, gasping, Garrus huffs a weak laugh. "Turians, Commander?" he mocks the damned Admiral she nearly clocked out on the docks.

She smirks. "You're damn right, Turians." She plants a sloppy kiss on his mouth and tugs at the clasps of his uniform, a lighter armor than what he takes on missions, but enough to stop a bullet. "Damn you and wearing your damn armor all the time."

He chuckles and shows her the center separation in the front of his chest. He takes her head in his hand and lathes along her neck, nipping hard occasionally and making her hands stutter. "You're making this more difficult, you know," she pants, her hands uselessly fumbling as she takes a moment to bask in his attentions. "Don't you want to know the surprise I have in store?"

His rumbling thrum stutters and he pulls back to look in her eyes with his wide ones, feral, hungry, and sending absolutely torturous waves of heat to her sex. With a sharp move, he snaps open the front of his suit and takes her heads, running them along his chest in silent demand to continue.

She smirks. "Atta boy." She ducks her head under his chin and nibbles up the center of his throat, humming at the vibrations of his appreciative growling and moan. She dips her hands to his waist and grips the soft hide, his moan sending a shockwave through her body. "Garrus, go get on the couch."

She takes her hands off of him and steps back with a coy smile. His mandible flicks and he rumbles, debating whether or not to argue, but gives in, heading to the couch while stripping off his armor.

She follows slowly, teasingly making him wait, and does the same, pulling her clothes off and tossing them to the floor, forgotten and uncared for with more important things at hand. When she comes around the side of the couch, she's happy to see a hunger in his eyes that matches her own.

She straddles him, her legs going on either side of his, and eagerly lets him claim her mouth as he attacks her breasts with his talons and fingers. She can't hold back the moan his urgent movements pull out of her and he devours her pleasure which such intensity that she almost hurts at what being on the Normandy seems to be doing to him.

With this in mind, she clasps both of her hands on either side of his head and tucks her thumbs under the back of his jaw, messaging the hinge of mandible and plate. He pulls back to suck in a breath and moans a growling drawl of pleasure, his hips jerking under her.

She smiles at learning this little weakness of his and she's surprised it took her so long, though she's more than happy to remedy that problem and take advantage now. His mandibles slacken in silent and instinctual request and Jane gladly moves to answer, ducking her head close to his side to run her tongue along the softer, and much more sensitive, underside.

She runs her fingers along the mandible on the opposite side and Garrus' chest heaves in ragged pants. His hands drop to her ass and pulls her against his body, his hips grinding against hers and she softly moans at the feeling of his plates open and sheath hot and moist.

"Garrus," she pants against him. "Hold it. I promise you, I'll make it worth it." Her other answer is a low growl and press into her hands, seeking more of her sweet pressure and tongue.

_He's going to like my tongue a whole more, in time,_ she silently muses as she takes the prong of his mandible and sucks on it.

A moan is her only warning before Garrus jerks her head from his mandible and his tongue dives between her lips. His growls and pants beat against her throat and she grips his shoulders, having no choice but to just hold on for the ride.

He finally pulls from her when she's on the verge of lightheadedness and the two gasp raggedly. His hands grab her breasts and his head drops to run his rough tongue against a nipple. Jane moans and her legs tighten without control around his thighs. He rumbles in approval and drops and hand to pull her hips closer, using his hold to grind her center against his barely contained lust.

"Garrus," she calls, trying to get his attention before he decides to move past this bit of teasing. He doesn't react, but she persists. "Garrus, I have an idea and I need you to listen."

He still either ignores or doesn't hear her, so she frowns and wraps a hand around his center crest, squeezing hard and tugging back. His reaction is immediate as his hands tighten their hold, sending a sharp jolt through her body, and his entire body vibrates with a feral growl. When his eyes come to hers, they are dark with wild passion and lust and his mandibles flick rapidly as he fights his instinctual response.

"I need you to listen." She drops her free hand to the one on her breast and softly rubs it, soothing the tensed digits from her firm grasp.

"You're not going to get me to by doing this," he growls, his voice more like the predator of his past and less like the civilized people of the present.

She slowly releases his crest and strokes a hand over it in silent appeasement. He rumbles and flicks an impatient mandible, but doesn't move. "When we were first seeing each other, just what kind of porn did you watch?"

His brows shift in confusion. "What does that-"

"Just answer." She takes his mandibles in her hands and lifts his head to look more into his eyes. "Did you ever see any humans using their mouths?"

She feels the limbs below her hands jerk in shock and his eyes widen. "You really do that? I thought normal people found that unsanitary."

She smiles softly. "Not if you love someone, you don't. Is it a strange concept?" She strokes her fingers softly against his plates.

"Well," his eyes look away, then return. "You know how is usually is with Turians, no foreplay and only enough to get ready and fully prepared." He jerks his head. "But it's just males licking a female open, never anything more and _never_ anything around a male. We have teeth, Jane." He flicks his mandibles to show. "I'm not letting that anywhere near me."

Jane's eyes crinkle in silent laughter. "You afraid I'm going to bite you, Garrus?"

"With your useless teeth? No." His eyes search hers, the hunger not gone but subdued and the new look of concern swirling in his ice. "You sure you want that? It's not really the same as humans."

She chuckles and plants a soft kiss on his nose. "I've known that since the beginning. Here, we'll go slow." She shifts to the floor and drops an open hand to his pelvic seam and his breath hitches. "Just relax and let me do this for you. I promised I'd show you something you've never felt before, so just enjoy."

She smiles and takes his hips in her hands, tugging a bit to get him to shift a bit closer, which he does without pause. His body is wrought with tiny tremors and Jane strokes her hands along his thighs comfortingly.

Without any more time waiting, she drops her head to his groin and breaths heavily along his moist slit. His breath catches and she takes it as a sign to pucker her lips and blow, the cooler air making his legs jump under her hands.

"Jane," he growls out, his head dropping back in effort to follow her earlier command. She caresses him in silent assurance and takes his willingness as a good sign.

Next, she drops her lips and kisses along his sheath, a low hum of pleasure vibrating her throat as her lips pass over the heat and risen center where she knows his ready and willing cock lay. His hands tighten on the edges of the couch when she repeats the process and she hears the small noise of his talons puncturing into the cushions.

She pulls away and he looks down to her, his chest heaving and mandibles hung loose. Staring straight into his eyes, she licks her lips, taking in the traces of his unique flavor, spicy and tingling her tongue like mint, and hums. He growls low in his chest as his avid eyes watch her mouth with the most amazing hunger.

She takes one of his hands from the couch and places it at the back of her head, right at the base of her skull and neck. "You can tell me if I'm going too fast or slow. Let me show you things first before you rush on to the next, okay?"

He doesn't respond with words, just a rumbling purr and stroke of his fingers in her hair and she takes it as a perfect opportunity to begin again, dropping to his crotch. Without hesitation, she opens her mouth and trails her tongue across his sheath.

His moan echoes in the room and she moans in response, the shear fact of his pleasure driving her just as wild and she squeezes her thighs together. It's the most she'll give herself, though, because this is about him, about her gift to him for everything he's having to put up with on the Normandy, and he's worth her full attention.

She licks against him again, his sweet and spicy taste hitting her tongue and she starts to feel his resolve fail as his tip emerges. She immediately places her hand along his sheath to help hold him from completely emerging and lathes his sensitive tip with her tongue. He moans, the noise stuttered, and his hand strokes into her hair as a silent request, a need, for more.

She closes her lips around his pointed tip and flicks her tongue over it before sucking in her cheeks and creating a sweet suction. She feels his reverberating growl through her mouth and she hums, drawing a tense in her hair before he pushes her head down in demand. She smirks around his head and slowly removes pressure against his hide, raising her head to remain on his tapered tip only as the rest of him emerges.

Despite his insistence that she stay in position, she drops her head and kisses along the side of the shaft as her fingers idly message along the flesh exposed by his spread groin plates. When he moans at her touch to his wide base, she opens her mouth and tries to wrap as much of it around the bulb and sucks.

His fist tightens and it should hurt, anytime a man did that same it did, but it only turns her on more as her hand at his thigh tightens and she scoots her body closer between his knees. She sucks against his moist base and hums, the vibrations in her ears mixing with his glorious rumbling.

Excited about actually getting to the main show and assured that he's comfortable enough, she leaves his base and raises herself more up on her knees. His eyes catch hers and has to fight her every urge to just straddle him from that feral desire and heat in his eyes, but she does when she reminds herself of the overall meaning of this gesture, both his unwavering trust to do something completely foreign and hers to give him control should he choose.

With a sly smirk, Jane takes him in hand and plunges her mouth over his length, taking him half-way into her mouth so she can twirl her tongue around whatever she can reach and stroking the remaining length. His thighs tighten and his hand fists in her hair as he throws his head back in a wanton moan, a snarl lacing his tone.

She strokes him while switching her tactics with her mouth to lick and suck, bobbing her head in time with her hand. She can feel him fighting his body's want to thrust into her warm mouth, so she drops her hands to his thighs to assist.

With her mouth sufficiently wet with saliva and the help of his own lubrication, Jane shifts up and plunges down, taking him into her mouth as far as she can. His body falls still in silent shock, the other action coming from him the constant growling song of his arousal that vibrates through their connection. Jane pulls back to catch her breath and attacks again, this time moaning in her throat at the absolutely sinful feeling of him twitching in her mouth.

She pulls back to catch her breath and takes a hand to his waist, gripping him hard and forcefully as she sets a brutal pace of bobbing her head over him. She alternates her up and down movements with an occasional twirl or swipe of tongue or tight suction on the upstroke and she soon has him bucking in her hold.

His breath is ragged and his chest is loud with a rhythmic thrumming and both of his hands have since moved to cup her head in his hands, not forcing anything but there in silent desire. She has to drop both hands to his thighs to hold him from choking her and even then it's a battle, but soon, she feels him start to pulse, his ridges shift slightly, and she knows the fight is almost over.

With that thought, she attacks with renewed vigor, adding a deep plunge to her pattern and he moans, his fingers tightening, as she feels him expand in her mouth. She moans around him and that pulls him over the edge as he tries to pull her off, but she fights him, giving him no choice but to fill her mouth with his seed.

She moans at the magnificent sweetness of him, a hint of spice and smoothness like dark chocolate, and his upper body jerks at the sensation. She swallows and bobs, licking and sucking, to drawing out the last of his aftershocks, before he pulls at her, unable to take anymore.

She looks to him and blinks at the expression in his eyes. "You okay?" she asks, her brows dropping in confusion. _Did I do something wrong?_

He flicks a mandible and strokes her cheek. "More than okay." He tugs her and she climb onto the couch with him. "You didn't have to do that, you know."

"Do what? Swallow?" She smirks and strokes a hand along his mandible. "Trust me, I did. You're the only one I've ever had no qualms whatsoever about completely pleasuring, beginning to end." She kisses him and moans when he growls at his taste on her tongue.

"Are you willing to let me return the favor?" She blinks at that, shocked he'd offer.

"Isn't that a bit strange for you? I mean, I'd love it… but don't Turians have a bit of a quirk against each other's fluids." Her brows draw down in thought. "I mean, don't males just lick the plates open and completely avoid the actual fluids and cunt?"

Garrus purrs and pulls Jane's mouth to his again, his tongue diving into her throat to get every trace of his own remains from where ever it may lay. He pulls away, leaving her panting and obvious of her own unsated need. "I want to with you. It's one more way to be connected to you." His mandible flicks out in a smirk. "Plus, if you taste as good as you smell, I think 'strange' will be the last thing I'd call it."

A hungry smile crosses Jane's face and she pulls Garrus to her, leaning back against the arm rest and forcing him over her. He attacks her mouth, twisting his hot tongue with hers as his hands drop to a breast and one to the apex at her legs.

He drops to her neck and nips hard, following each brutal snap of plates with a soothing run of his tongue. She moans and throws her head back, giving him more room and he growls in appreciation before moving in.

Suddenly, Jane hears a noise that she can't quite place, but knows doesn't belong. She tries to ignore it, but can't once Garrus groans in aggravation and pulls away, pulling up his wrist to reveal his Omni-Tool pinging.

"You had better not be thinking about answering that, Vakarian," she glares up at him and he rumbles in response. He inputs a quick command and the Tool goes silent before he drops back down to her.

He drops his head to her chest and strokes firebrands across her nipples, his talons scratching whichever one is missed from his alternating torture. She moans and he echoes her, his hot breath puffing across her sweaty skin, but their pulled out of their pleasure by his Omni-Tool firing off again.

"What the fuck, Garrus," Jane demands when he moves to silence it again.

"Ignore it." His rumbles against her neck and lavishes the sensitive trail of nerves up to her ear.

Damned curiosity once again ruining the moment, Jane asks, "Who is it?"

He groans, obviously not happy with her absolute worse quality and its wonderful way of butting in when it's least wanted. "My dad. Happy? Now can we get back to more _important_ things?" He punctuates his question with a nip at her ear lobe.

She moans a yes and pushes her chest into his hands, but quickly groans with she feels the vibration from his wrist. "God damn it. Answer the damn thing." She shifts away from him, sure that so long as his dad is messaging, they won't get any peace.

Her husband growls low and vicious, pulling up to his knees to check whatever the hell his dad wants. He reads quickly, his mandibles flicking in agitation and an angry growl rumbling from his chest. When he's done, he lifts his hands to his face, gripping the plates at his temples in frustration.

"Hey," Jane offers softly and leans up to rub soothingly at the most likely forming headache. "What's wrong?"

"He's had the Normandy tagged for whenever it docks so he always knows when we get into the Citadel." He sighs and drops his hands, pushing into Jane's soothing message. "Turns out he's been keeping track of my contacts and amassing all of their problems for me for when I get back."

Jane hums and pulls him down to rest on her, his head coming to rest on her chest as she rubs right at the join of his brow plates and fringe, the thin spot of his plates nearest to where he gets the worst of his headache pain. The moment has passed and though she didn't get the release her body craves, her thoughts are easily focused on soothing her mate's distress. Her pleasure is second to his comfort and ease. "What does he want us to do?"

He grunts. "You have enough to worry about. This is my problem, I'll do it tomorrow."

Jane glares, but knows he doesn't see it from his position. "I don't think so. You're part of my crew now, whether your dad likes it or not." She strokes a hand down the fringe along the side of his head and he purrs in contentment, pulling a soft smile to her lips. "Plus, I want to help you."

He breathes deeply for a second before giving in. "It's Dr. Michel. The message didn't say much but apparently she's calling my contact line and asking for help. Saying it's urgent."

"Urgent enough that it could wait for you to come back to the Citadel?"

He shrugs. "My dad always exaggerates things when he's trying to lecture or guilt me. If she's waited this long, I'm sure she can wait until tomorrow."

Jane chuckles. "And if you go to your Commander for assistance, I'm sure she'll even make it so that you don't have to do it on your shore leave." He rumbles a soft laugh.

"I'm sorry that call ruined everything." He strokes a warm hand along her belly. "I can already tell you aren't up to it anymore, but I can always get you excited if you want." He turns his head up to look into her eyes.

She smiles and strokes a finger on his side plate, from temple back. "It's ok. How about we work on you headache and get some breakfast first?" He rumbles and nuzzles his head against her breast. "I'd rather have it so we can both enjoy it than make you simply even the score."

He huffs and laugh, his warm breath wafting over her cooling skin. "You kidding? I'm still ahead, Jane."

She smiles and pulls up her Omni-Tool to start their search for something to get delivered to their home to eat. They have thirty-five more hours to worry about blowing off the steam of the Normandy and this, this time to just hold each other, is something they've been without just as much and they don't want to miss out.


	17. Chapter 16

-Garrus-

"Aren't you cold?" Garrus ask groggily, nuzzling his head closer to his mate's chest even after having passed out for who knows how long.

Her hand drops to his fringe and he purrs, pressing into her soft caress. He looks up to see her smiling down, a datapad held off to one side with her other hand. "I don't need a blanket with you here. You're so warm, like a little heater."

"And you're cold." Her stubby little toes wiggle around their hold around his thighs at that and he chuckles.

"I'm not cold as long as you warm me up." He mock groans in frustration, but she sees right through it and snickers. "Oh hush you, once I get warm you can't stay away." Her eyes draw in a mock glare. "And don't act like those nights where you were literally laying on top of me never happened."

He rumbles. "No witnesses, Jane. No one will believe you."

She scoffs, making him chuckle, and crosses her arms in a loose pout. He purrs and raises to his hands, lifting himself over her face to rub his forehead to hers. She smiles and returns the pressure cheerfully.

Jane lays a soft kiss on his lip plate before he sits up on his knees. "How long have I been asleep?"

Her lips twist in contemplation as she thinks it over, but shrugs. "Hell if I know. Hour or two?" He rolls his eyes and runs the back of a knuckle lightly up the side of her waist, causing her to squirm and giggle before trying to swat him away.

He laughs, the fact that this 'badass, take-no-shit Spectre' could ever produce such a delicate and feminine noise and that he's certain he's the only one to ever make it out alive. She scowls and drops the datapad on the floor and pokes him, doing nothing more than producing a slight thunk against his carapace.

"And just what is so funny, Vakarian?" she says in what she dubs her 'Commander voice,' but it has no effect on him off the ship.

He rumbles in good mirth and hooks a finger under her chin. "Just that you,_Commander Shepard, first human Spectre,_ just giggled." She frowns and he smirks, one mandible flicking out. "It's cute."

"_Cute?_ I don't do cute, Garrus." She swats his hand away, but it does nothing against his knowing smirk. "And you better not tell anyone or I swear I'll… I'll-"

"You'll… want, Jane." He rumbles against her jaw, still far enough away for his eyes to see her frown drop when she sighs.

"You're insufferable." She strokes his face plates, from temple and back along his side fringe, and he purrs as he presses back. "A big, stupid, insufferable, bastard Turian." He chuckles. "But you're mine. Just don't push it, mister."

Garrus laughs, hearing her soft chuckle in response, and pulls away to place a gentle approximation of a kiss at her lips. When he pulls away, a warm smile brightens her eyes and he shifts to a better sitting position instead of nearly laying on top of her.

She sits up beside him and stretches her arms up with a hum of satisfaction. He can never quite get the hang of seeing her bend and stretch in such odds ways that pull her skin taunt over the various delicate bones in her body. It isn't necessarily as disturbing to see as he had feared it would be so long ago and, in fact, sometimes turns him on.

Right now, though, he doesn't feel anything but the loving amusement as he rumbles in soft laughter at her deep exhale of relaxation and languid smile. "All better?" he asks and she snorts, waving him off and standing up.

"I can't get clearance to stay on the Citadel longer than this shore leave, so I think I'm going to go do whatever needs to get done while we're here." She runs a hand through her messy red hair. "I figure that it's not really fair to get people to help me so I think I'll just do it alone."

He exaggeratedly clears his throat and she leaves her search of clothes to turn to him with a raised brow. "Alone?" He raises her brow raise with his own.

She rolls her eyes. "Oh brother, Garrus. Of course not _alone_ alone." He jerks his head in confusion and another of her people's weird habits of speech. She turns around to search for her clothes again. "I wouldn't dream of not taking you if you really wanted to spend most of the day running around the Citadel for politicians who can't even seem to wipe their own ass. I'd love to have you… It'll just look like I did it on my own if it turns out that I have to write a report about something."

He chuckles and stands, moving to search for his own discarded clothing, no need to dress into something fresh if the armor he left the ship in was just used to get home. "Missions during shore leave _and_ having to write reports? And everyone says I have a stick up my ass?"

She laughs, pulling the straps of her upper underwear, _a bra_ he reminds himself. "Been overhearing Joker, have you?" She tosses him a glove that falls out of her pants when she picks them up. "The sooner I get this shit done, the sooner I can come home, take a nice long shower with my very own, personal washer," she pointedly looks to him with a smirk, "order delivery, and plop down on the couch with my husband to watch vids until time to fall into the magnificent bed of yours."

"Just 'fall into bed'?" He purrs as he pushes his legs into his armor and pulls it up over his shoulders. "Nothing else you have in mind?"

She shrugs with a coy smile and leaves him to go to the bathroom, probably to fix her hair into her military bun. He shakes his head with a soft huff of a laugh and finishes suiting up. He can hear her shuffling around in the other room and soon hears her voice drift to his ears.

"Go ahead and look at that datapad that's somewhere in there." He looks around and finds it half under the couch. She continues as he accesses the screen. "It's a correspondence from Ilden. You know, the assassin we met when we first helped out Tali?"

He remembers the man, both from rumored tales and their encounter, but he has no clue why he'd be contacting them now. "I thought he was going to be watching the Council in case they pulled anything." He walks towards her location. "Did he find something?"

He finds her standing in front of the bathroom mirror, trying to fight her unruly hair into a proper bun. "Yes and no. I didn't ask yet because I haven't gone to Udina to get our next lead and I don't want to go into that conversation knowing the truth." She smirks at him in the mirror. "You know how I'd react if I _knew_ the prick was lying to me." He grunts in agreement and she moves back to her hair. "I did ask him to join us today."

Garrus lifts a brow. "And why is that?"

"Because, if I'm to be working with him, I might end up having to rely on him on my team. I don't want to end up being up shit creek without a paddle if I can help it and testing him on some do nothing missions will be the best way to make sure." Garrus hums in reluctant agreement and scans over her message conversations with the assassin so she can try to tame her fiery mass.

It was a pretty simple conversation that was worded as vaguely as possible to discourage prying eyes and a quick scan revealed pretty much all of what Jane had already said. All except one little detail she left out.

"Which one of you came up with the code names? 'Kissed-By-Fire'? 'Shadow-Scale'?" She laughs and turns to him, her hair finally contained.

"Saw that, did you? I have no clue how he came up with them, but I get it." Her brows draw down. "Well, mine at least… I have a pretty good suspicion about his, but I'm not going to push it." She smiles and takes the pad from his hand. "See," she points to her head, "'kissed by fire' because I have red hair. I think it's from an old Earth book, though I'm not sure."

"Jane," he purrs and nuzzles against her neck. "How about we just go get the guy and get this over with?"

She chuckles and rubs her palms against his crest. "Someone's impatient."

He pulls away and takes her hand, all put dragging her to leave. "No. I'd just rather not spend all day running errands because you can't say no." She snorts at his back and he flicks a mandible in good mirth.

He loves the woman, but her constant need to feed her curiosity and help others despite trying to act the stern commander is really cutting into their alone time. _Who am I kidding? I'd follow her to any and every mundane task she finds._

"Where are we meeting him?" He drops her hand when they take the elevator down to the ground level.

As they walk towards the transit, she looks at her Omni-Tool, a frown of deep concentration setting her brows low as she scrolls through the conversation. "Says here… outside C-Sec Academy, in the wards."

_Why do I always keep getting pulled closer and closer to C-Sec?_ He sighs and punches in the commands, a car beeping twice before the doors unlock and pop open. Jane climbs into the passenger seat and he holds in the chuckle.

She looks to him and her eyes narrow. "And just what's so funny?"

"Nothing." He climbs in and closes the door. "It's just nice to not have to worry about losing all the contents of my gizzard all over the cab because of your driving."

She crosses her arms and relaxes in her seat. "I believe I warned you _before_we got married that I was a horrible driver. It's not my fault you didn't listen."

He chuckles and steers the car towards the academy. "You didn't the disaster that is you at the wheel justice. How could I have ever expected the things you put that Mako through? I don't even know how that thing doesn't manage to come back to the ship in thousands of pieces."

She shrugs. "Well, I guess it's too bad that it'll look bad if I don't drive. You'll manage, everyone else does."

_That's the delicate way of saying it._ He doesn't want to remind her of the time they had to stop while fighting Geth so the Lieutenant could hurl up what looked like his meals from the last week. Or the time Tali pulled her feet and arms around her body in a fetal position when they were searching for Liara._Probably leave out when you heard Wrex mumbling in his sleep about dying in a fiery Mako crash that plummeted off a cliff._

They land outside of the lower markets and get out. Jane turns to scan the area as Garrus locks the terminal and pays for the cab, suddenly having his attention pulled away by a voice calling over towards them.

"Hey, Commander Shepard! It's me, Conrad Verner! Remember me?" Garrus remembers that voice and that name well. He remembers the annoyance his stammering questions and idolizing that cut into their precious time to hunt down Tali. He also remembers his complete agreement with Wrex's statement to just shoot the man.

Despite his wife's earlier reluctance to speak to the man before and her obvious desire to never do so again now, the scrawny man rushes over to them and Garrus has to fight back the urge to growl at the invasion.

He pants for a moment now that he has them before standing to ogle at Jane with wide eyes. "There are rumors on the extranet that you've been made the first human Spectre. That's incredible!"

"Oh, yeah. It's great," Jane says under her breath, her eyes searching for any way out of this conversation, any distraction to get away, but even Garrus can't see anything.

"They say you're going in with a 'take no crap' attitude, showing the aliens what humans can really do… Say, could I get your picture?" He holds up his arm and his Omni-Tool comes to life.

"Wait, you serious?" Jane's brow raises in bewilderment. Garrus' mandibles flick, but he holds in his rebuttal to the man's request. _What kind of person just runs up to someone and asks for a picture? Is it a human thing? Doesn't this guy have the extranet?_ "Why the hell would I do that?"

"You're a hero and decades from now, you'll be even more famous. I'll be able to show everyone that I got a picture of you before you became famous. It'll be cool, you could hold up your gun and point it out all menacing… It'll be great!" He waves his still-open Tool before her.

Jane steps back and scowls. "I'm not some glamour icon that's going around so you can send photos to all your friends. I have a job to do and I already stopped to give you your damn autograph. Consider yourself lucky you got even that." She steps up to him again and stares into his eyes. "Either move aside or leave because I don't take being blocked in too well."

"So that's how it is?" He jerks his hand down, the orange glow dissipating. "The rest of us should just let you reap the fame and glory?" He glares and huffs, his hand curling into fists. "Well you're not the only one who can stand up for humanity." He points a finger in Jane's face and Garrus does growl, chance of the public hearing be damned.

Verner drops his hand, his eyes widening a second before he takes a step back, his anger almost completely gone. He glowers for a second before turning to Jane, but most of his spirit has died from Garrus' reprimand. "I'll show you, Shepard." His words are softer than before and his eyes don't hold the strength of his declaration as he turns and stomps off.

Jane groans and tips her head back once he's gone. "Jesus Christ on a stick, what's wrong with people? 'Fame and glory'? Just what the hell does he think being a Spectre is?" She huffs a laugh. "I wish I had some of this 'fame and glory' they say I have. Maybe I could finally get something done, right?"

Garrus merely shrugs and motions towards C-Sec. Jane quickly falls back into their routine they've built working together on the ship and she leads him towards the stairway that leads down to the wards entrance of the academy.

However, instead of taking them down, she passes them and leads behind the dividing wall, entering into a shadowy area that many tend to avoid for the brighter areas and big windows. Leaning against the wall is the somewhat familiar shape, humanoid with a hood and mask, of the assassin Ilden'Ril.

The hooded head turns to them and pulls away from the way, approaching steadily and with hands in clear view. "Greetings, Commander. Officer," he nods a head.

"Did you think about my offer?" Jane shifts back on one foot, her arms crossing at her chest. "Because if you are, that mask might be a bit… off-putting."

"I do not remove my mask. It is part of my identity."

She snorts and her head bobs in what Garrus recognizes as an eye roll. "Never easy with people, is it? Alright, how do _you_ go around when you try to be normal?"

"I don't."

Jane throws her hands up and tosses her head. "For fuck's sake. Fine… just stay in the shadows for all I care. Are you at least able to work in a team?"

"I am not incapable of cooperation." He politely offers.

"Good, at my seven position." Ilden nods and moves to her command, his dusty scent hitting Garrus' nose and making his mandible flick once at the abnormal sensation. "Garrus is at my five. You'll catch the routine quickly enough, but hopefully we won't be having any shootouts."

"Feeling optimistic, Commander?" Garrus jokes, her huff of annoyance clear as a cover for her smile he knows she's trying to hide.

"Ok," she says after a moment, leading them back out into the brighter light. "Hopefully we won't be having _many_ shootouts. Now, first thing's first. We head over to see the Admiral, give him the bad news." He sees the subtle shift of her face as she fights the frown as her hand fingers the pocket of her outfit that holds the handful of dog tags from the deceased.

They travel to the Citadel Tower in an automated transit, probably because Jane doesn't want to reveal the horror that is her driving to someone who just joined their group, and she spends the time in idle chatter with the man, trying to get out more information. Garrus is certain that she knows more about the man than she's letting on, but perhaps the small talk is just a way to get him to open up on his own and not forced.

_Leave it to Jane to befriend an assassin with a streak for exposing crime,_ Garrus muses as he watches Jane convince Ilden to tell a tale of one of his favorite jobs.

"The most enjoyable part was not actually finding the man, but in finding out that he had even more secrets than I thought once I gained access to his terminals." A soft chuckle echoes through his mask. "I had no idea of his penchant for such… interesting forms of entertainment."

Jane laughs. "You know, you can just say porn. You had no idea the kind of freaky porn the perv was into." Garrus rumbles with Jane's laughter and the man shakes his head. When she controls herself, she motions out of the windshield. "Alright, show's over. Back to being professionals, people."

They land and Jane offers for Garrus and Ilden to want back while she tries to talk to the Admiral. They agree, staying far enough back to give her and the man a semblance of privacy while still maintaining eye contact.

He's idly glancing her way when he hears a soft clearing of throat at his side. He looks over to the assassin, who drops his hand from his mask. _Must be habit even when his mouth is actually covered and even when it's clearly just to get my attention._ "You know, the hand thing isn't really necessary with the mask."

"Perhaps, but it is more polite." Garrus has to give him that, it certainly does look more polite than not, mask or no. "I was just going to say that the Commander is not as most portray her."

Garrus raises a brow plate. "And how do they portray her?" This is interesting, a hacker and assassin talking about media portrayal of his wife.

"Emotionless, a model of humanity without an actual face."

Garrus snorts. "You _do_ know how that sounds coming from a _hooded and masked_ assassin, right?"

He pauses and looks to him, his dark goggles meeting icy blue. "I suppose my evaluation could seem a bit skewed."

Garrus shakes his head. "Look, I don't really know what your plan is or if you really are here to do what you claim, but I'll tell you plainly, I don't trust you. I can accept that you might want to help us for your own goals -and I know who you are, so I don't doubt that- but I can't force myself to look past that mask and hood."

Ilden's head turns back to watch Jane and the Admiral. "I understand your hesitance and admire your brutal honesty. You and your Commander are very much alike in that regard." He looks to Garrus. "She told me something very similar, actually. It is why I accepted her offer to assist the two of you." They both turn to see Jane approaching. "If I prove myself today, will you offer me a greater trust than you do now?"

He doesn't get to offer a verbal response, instead nodding to the man once Jane reaches them and waves them towards the transit. "You guys get lonely? Share some war stories? Engage in some good ole fashioned one-up-manship?"

Ilden turns to Garrus, his head tilting as he connects gazes –goggles – with the Turian. Garrus chuckles and shakes his head. "Don't bother. The Commander has a way of using odd words and phrases. Some of her own human crew can't quite understand her."

"Hey, what do you know? I'm not as deaf as I thought," Jane says with a mock glare over her shoulder at the two at her back. "How about we _not_ teach the newest member to instantly start talking smack about me? I'd like to have at least one person have respect, Vakarian."

Ilden turns his attention to Jane. "It's just that your vocabulary is very-"

"Elegant? Sophisticated? Well rounded and completely educated to the point that you wish you knew the vocabulary I do? Yeah, I get that a lot, but you get used to it." She's fighting against her smirk as she climbs into the cab and motions them to follow.

"Okay," Jane starts once the shuttle is off the ground and heading out. "Enough joking and chit chat. I think I told you about the job I wanted your help on. Garrus has an old contact for C-Sec that asked for help." Ilden nods in understanding and she continues. "Right. We don't know exactly what's wrong so we're going to go check it out."

"Of course, Commander. Should I remain away from the situation?" Jane looks to Ilden, her lips twisted in contemplation.

"Fuck it." She shrugs. "If this woman is in the same situation we met her in last time, I can't risk you being too far away when bullets fly. I'm sure she's seen much worse than a guy in a hoodie and sky mask."

Ilden's head jerks slightly in affront and Garrus' mandible flicks in silent laughter. _Get used to it, Ilden. Jane does this to everyone, just ask the crew._

When they land outside of the clinic, Jane steps out and motions to the others. "Alright. We go in hoping we won't have to shoot anyone, but expect the worst." She smiles. "That way we can be pleasantly surprised."

"Please. I need those supplies for my clinic. I can't!" Jane's hand twitches towards her shotgun, but she relaxes once they see only the doctor once the doors slide open.

"You can and you will. Or your story won't stay secret for long" a forceful voice speaks through the room and Jane tilts her head in interest. Doctor Michel drops her head in her hands. "Don't disappoint me, Doctor." The call cuts off and a soft hitch of breath escapes the woman.

"Something wrong, Doctor?" Jane steps closer, her voice stern but willing to help. Michel gasps a bit in surprise and turns to their group, her eyes brightening at the sight of Jane and Garrus.

"Oh, Commander, Garrus." She rubs a gloved hand against one cheek, trying to lightly rub the red flush on her skin from her distress. "It's nothing really, I can take care of it. Thank you, though."

Jane huffs and Garrus catches the assassin rest his hands at his back, obviously catching on quickly to Jane's little tells in her conversations. "Look, Doctor. C-Sec says you've been calling for Garrus and needing help." _Is that a hint of upset because of the calling or because of _**_who_**_ she's calling?_ "You just tell us what's going on."

The doctor's eyes widen in shock, but she still has the state of mind to glance to Ilden in silent question and Jane frowns in frustration. "He's not any concern. You've treated Quarians before, right?" The woman nods. "Then treat the mask and hood like that. Imagine he'll explode, or die, or whatever, if he takes it off. Better?"

Michel's mouth flounders, as if she's trying to make words but nothing will form. The woman looks upsetting from Jane's assault, but Garrus can understand his wife's short temper. Michel _has_ been messaging non-stop since his dad _conveniently_let her know the Normandy was on the station.

Finally, the doctor regains composure and takes a deep breath. "I was fired by my previous employer for giving out free medical supplies to clinics like this one. They didn't actually file any charges, just wanted me to leave without causing a scene." She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "But somebody must have found out and they're trying to blackmail me." She heaves a breath and clasps her hands together. "I have to give them what they want or they'll release my files. If the board finds out, I could lose my license!"

Jane puts up her hand in a calming motion. "Easy. We can help. What do they want from you for their silence?"

Michel moves to a cabinet and pulls out some medical supplies and hand them over to Jane. "I have to give those to a merchant, Morlan, in the markets by the end of today."

"We could go to the meet in her stead, wait for the contact, and get information from them once they arrive," Ilden speaks from his position closer to the door, a bit away so as not to upset the doctor more.

Jane nods over her shoulder in agreement and hands the medical supplies to Garrus, his larger hands more able to carry the vast amount of vials and containers than her much smaller ones. "Good idea. We'll go in like a drop off and when he have him, we'll deal with this little problem."

"Deal with it?" Michel's eyes are confused as she moves to stand uncomfortably close to Garrus and his mate. Holding back his rumble of discomfort, he steps a slight step away and notices Jane does not. _Perhaps humans don't have the same personal space barriers as Turians and I just never had to see it in person with Jane._ "Won't that just make them leak the files anyways?"

Jane snorts, having not noticed the little exchange, and turns to the doctor. "Not when we're done with them." She doesn't let the woman respond, turning to lead the team out.

"Alright, here's the plan. Ilden, I want you to hold back. Keep an eye out for an ambush or jump in if my wonderful negotiation skills fail." She takes a quick moment to check for his understanding nod before she turns to Garrus. "Vakarian, be my pack mule and carry that for me. Your hands are bigger than mine and I don't want to drop our merchandise and look like a fool."

Garrus rolls his eyes and sighs. "Do I have permission to drop them if, in fact, your 'wonderful negotiation skills fail'?"

"You know, Vakarian, I don't think I'm going to grant you anymore shore leave. You get awfully sassy." He sees the glint of laughter in her eyes before she moves back to her task.

When they reach the markets, Ilden falls back, his paces slowing until he is lost in the crowd, while Jane and Garrus are left to search out Morlan. "I remember there being a Morlan here, I think I remember him running the shop over… there."

She waves over her shoulder and leads towards a shop tended by a golden scaled Salarian. "Oh, welcome. Come to view our great selections?"

Jane scoffs and leans on the counter of the shop, the sudden angle to her ass almost jerking a very unprofessional growl out of Garrus' mouth. "I hear you're expecting a few _supplies_. Sure hope your injuries aren't too serious."

She pointedly stares at the clerk and he falters under her scrutiny. He rubs his horns and looks around the market, his eyes searching. "But I was told the doctor would be bringing the supplies."

Jane opens her mouth in mock hurt and blinks her eyes. "You saying I don't look like a doctor? Didn't your mother ever teach you not to judge a book by its cover?"

Garrus sighs and steps closer to the counter. "Things have changed, Morlan."

This sends him stuttering. "A change? But…the doctor…I don't… This is not right, human." He frowns down to Jane, who stands straight with a scowl at the sounds of heavy footsteps approaching.

"Shut up, Morlan," a dark Krogan snaps. "I told Bane's you'd screw this up!" He looks to Jane and his green eyes narrow. "And who the hell are you? What the hell do you think you're doing, human?"

"We can do this one of two ways, the easy or the hard way." Jane shifts back to one foot. "I'd take the easy way and just leave the doctor alone, but you can always choose the second option."

The Krogan scoffs and tosses his head, his lip curling. "We can end this if you just bring me those supplies." He leers. "Otherwise, I'll start telling people about the doctor's little secret."

Jane lets out a sharp laugh, void of humor and more menacing coming from such a small form. "Want to keep that act up? I bet that I could have you killed without my friend or myself touching our weapons." She holds her hands high enough to leave no doubt. "Do you feel lucky?"

Garrus is able to see the assassin moving closer in case Jane gives the signal, one hand upon the hilt of his sword. He's well hidden in the shadows and still hard to make out unless directly looking for him, even with Garrus' slightly better eye sight. He wonders if Jane actually sees the man or if she's putting her trust in him to follow her lead.

_You put way too much trust on luck and circumstance, Jane,_Garrus silently scolds, but he has to believe in her because he certainly doesn't trust anything or anyone more than the tiny red head that's starting down a one ton Krogan.

Garrus sees Jane close her hand into a shape, all fingers closed into a fist except her thumb and forefinger. She slowly points her hand at the Krogan and Garrus notices instantly what she's miming at the same moment the Krogan does.

"Now, wait a minute!" His stance shifts from the typical menacing Krogan thug to a less seen frightened. Jane tilts her wrist, making her 'mock pistol' point to the ceiling. "I'm just the middleman here." He waves at the crazy woman. "This is more than I bargained for."

Jane blows a breath over her fingertip with a smirk and Garrus rolls his eyes with a low groan. She turns to the shop, and they both see Morlan pop his head out from under the safety of the counter.

"Thank you, human. It is good to see him humbled so." He looks to where the Krogan was just standing.

"Who's this Banes he mentioned?" Jane relaxes her stance and quirks a brow. "You know him?"

The clerk shakes his head with a frown. "I have never met him, unfortunately. I only worked with the one who spoke with the doctor."

Jane nods and leaves the man to his shop, motioning Ilden out of the shadows once they're on their way back to the clinic.

"That was an impressive show." Ilden's hands rest at the crook of his back. "How did you know I would be able to understand your lead?"

Jane snorts. "I didn't. I just winged it." She smirks to the assassin and Garrus rumbles at the confused tilt to his hooded head. "Hell, I'm as blind as a bat when it comes to the dark so I didn't even know you were there until you just told me."

She rushes ahead into the doors and calls out to the door, but Garrus is stopped by a small huff from the finger beside him. He turns to him, raising a brow plate. "Something wrong?"

"I'm just trying to determine if she's telling the truth or not."

Garrus shrugs. "It's best to not wonder about that or else you'll be kept up all night."

The man looks to him for a while before finally speaking. "You seem to hold as much trust in her as she does others, including you."

_You don't know the half of it,_ but Garrus doesn't respond much beyond and motion with his head towards the clinic before stepping in.

"And there's your supplies," Jane says with a smile towards them as they enter. "Now, tell me again about this Armistan Banes so Vakarian will know."

"Yes," Doctor Michel scratches the bridge of her nose and turns to directly speak to him. "I believe it may be who this Banes is that the Commander was talking about. We used to work together a long time ago. The last I heard, he was contracted out with the Alliance Military for some kind of research, but that's all I know."

She takes the medical supplies from Garrus and Jane takes the team out. "Thanks for carrying those around. I could have left them here, but I figured we might have needed them in case they wanted to see the merchandise first before giving the okay."

She brings a hand to her forehead in thought. "Now, this Banes guy. I have absolutely no idea what's up with him and, though I think Anderson would be the best to have an idea, I don't think he'd just give out that information. I understand that and all, classified bull shit and everything, but it's still a pain."

"Commander," Ilden polite offers. "May I offer another solution? One that could get you a guarantee on if this Armistan Banes is the person you are looking for?"

Both Jane and Garrus look to him with mirroring looks of confusion and intrigue. "What are you offering?"

"I can move in more than one kind of shadow."

"Great, more riddles," she huffs under her breath. "Just what I need, a guy who only speaks in riddles. I swear I need to change my name to Alice. Like I'm talking to the god damn March Hare and Hatter."

Garrus' mandible flicks at her irritation and he takes it upon himself to turn to the assassin. "Glad to see my detective skills are suffering on the Normandy. You are Ilden'Ril, the one people tend to call the do-good assassin." _As if there's such a thing._ "I thought you only went after the corrupt. We don't even know if Banes is our guy." Jane's interest is peaked and she looks between the two as he speaks. "Does the assumption it's him justify you hacking into his information?"

The man merely looks up to Garrus' face, his hands behind his back. "I have accessed the information of many, but only few have ever really been deemed unethical enough to need attention." He changes his gaze to Jane's and Garrus has to fight back his growl. "I can always stay to tracing any connection between the doctor and this man and remain outside of anything else. I only offer to provide closure for the good Doctor."

Jane bites on her lip, her eyes shifting to Garrus' in silent question. He really doesn't want to fight anymore. He's tired and wants to go home, but he knows she's not the kind of person to leave this possibility open. Jane is the kind of woman who likes answers and can't stand an open ended question. It's something he loves about her, but not at this very moment.

With a subtle flick of his mandible, he sends a silent okay to his wife, knowing that, deep down, he wants a conclusion to this as well. "Okay, Ilden," she says with a smile that seems like a peace offering. "Look into it and let me know if he was doing it. Maybe block his access to her or something. Just, don't ruin the guy's life, okay?" The man nods in understanding and takes his leave, moving off into the shadows.

"Jane," Garrus says low once his visor finally sees the man's vitals drift off.

"I know," she interrupts before he can continue, smiling up at him. "I want to go home too. What do you say we do the whole dinner, movie, couch, bed, plans I made earlier."

He smiles, one mandible flicking out. "I'd like that."


	18. Chapter 17

-Jane-

Jane wakes from a dream that consisted of disjointed thoughts and constant flashes of barely recognizable images she received from Eden Prime. It isn't a nightmare per se, and more like her mind didn't get any rest from the barrage of her subconscious.

She doesn't really mind it all that much, though, as she pulls up her Omni-Tool to check the time and finds that she's only awake thirty minutes before her alarm. Knowing she won't be able to get any extra sleep with her body already so awake from the odd dream, she shuts the alarm off and shuts down her Tool, sending the room into darkness again.

She stretches her body on the bed, pushing her arms above her head while stretching her toes as far as she can possibly manage, and chuckles when a warm arm drapes over her exposed ribs. Dropping her arms with a sigh at the amazing pleasure in her sleep addled muscles, she strokes the plated limp with a smile.

Once they had agreed to actually make a relationship out of what they were, she hadn't been expecting the amount of strength he had when it came to holding her in bed while he was asleep. At first, she had thought it was a subconscious dominance thing that they'd have to address, but the more he did it, the more she started to notice the soothing purrs he'd make in his sleep when she tried to leave. Curious, she looked it up on the extranet and looking at it now with her newly acquired knowledge, she admits it's pretty damn adorable.

Turians' ancestors often carried their babies within their cowls, or latched onto their plates when they grew larger, while they hunted, so a strong hold was vital for survival. When the children grew old enough to not need to be carried, their parents also ran into the problem of their rambunctious offspring waking in the night while they still slept. To manage this, adults learned to hold them at night, often fighting any protest while still completely asleep and unaware.

While there wasn't much need to have these predispositions anymore, it still didn't keep them from appearing and some tending to suffer more from it than others. Garrus was just one of those that had the stronger sense of instinct, but when he adds the little purring lullaby, Jane can seem to find a reason to complain.

Jane rolls to her side, taking in his dark shape beside her. She can't see much in their dark bedroom, but she can see enough to distinguish his body shape. He's on his stomach, his head facing away from her and towards their bathroom, and his upper back rises and falls in a deep, steady rhythm. The unique thrumming she's come to recognize as a Turian snore echoes through the large chamber of his chest, the sound like a low drum beating.

_He must not be getting any sleep on those damn cots on the Normandy if he's still passed out this late in the morning._ Normally, he'd be up much earlier than she would, as Turians don't tend to sleep a full eight hours at once and instead span it out, and Jane frowns at the thought.

She knows she's asking a lot from him by pulling him onto the Normandy. He's already had to hide their relationship in public and on the ship and sit by while two others openly vied for her attentions, fighting his every instinct to show his claim and defend their marriage. The food is bad and the ship is cold, too cold to be comfortable for him so he wears his armor as much can to take advantage of its built-in heating coils. She knows he isn't blind to the crew's obvious distrust and barely veiled hate for his kind, which most likely makes him the top alien on their list of suspicions.

She runs her hand over his shoulder and down his plated back, seeing that she has to add the fact that the cots must not be giving him much sleep to her long list of things to make up for. Her hand soothes over his ridged spine plates and he mumbles softly, pressing into her hand in unconscious request.

_Of course the human bunks would be giving him back problems,_ she thinks with a great pain in her chest at the thought of him being in pain. Remembering the trick she learned to get him to release her, she scoots up against his side and ducks under arm, relinquishing his hold. She makes sure to put enough pressure against his body so he doesn't go searching for her as she straddles his legs, knowing one way she can start to make everything up to him.

She starts by running her fingers along the grooves in his plating before finding a particularly hard knot of muscle in his lower back. As soon as she digs her fingers into it, her husband rumbles in approval and bows his back to give her a better angle.

She chuckles and takes the hint, pressing one hand into the knot and using the fingers of her other to massage the hide between his spine plates that usually goes unnoticed. That gets a little jolt out of him that nearly tosses her off and she holds in the laugh as she grips his cowl to keep balance, leaning to his ear to speak soothingly.

"Easy, Garrus," she whispers. "I know it feels good, but I won't be able to continue if you toss me across the room." She gives him a soft kiss before moving back down to work at another tight spot in his back.

Giving a Turian a massage is much different from a human because of the abundance of plates and the smaller number of sensitive spots to tend to, but she had insisted on learning. She felt it only right to learn how to do it since he had caught onto tending to her so easily and she wanted to repay the favor. Sure, the first few –hundred- tries were all but complete failures, but she persisted despite his assurance that it wasn't important and now she reaps the benefits as he purrs below her in bliss.

She's almost complete with soothing his back when she comes to the one spot she's been trying to avoid, the center of his lower back. She knows he has problems with his back, that he also refuses to tend to it because of his stubbornness, and doesn't want to necessarily cause him any pain. He's always tender here but he is also always in need of messaging out the kink here.

Running her palms over the spot, she finds both sides of his spine are stiff and hard with tense muscles and sighs, knowing he probably isn't going to like this. He feels better once she works at it, but the start is always something she dreads doing, not finding any pleasure in his pained groans.

_Hopefully it won't be so bad if he's out,_ she hopes and starts by pressing the balls of her palm into the stiffness. He reacts instantly, groaning as his fists tighten in the sheets and bucks with all his force, but she's planned his move and holds on to the back of his cowl.

"Easy, easy," she coos to him. "I'm sorry." She kisses the soft hide at his neck until his body relaxes and his hands loosen. "I won't do that again. No more lower back." She kisses him again and gets a rumble in response.

Giving up for the day, Jane simply rests her head against his and listens to his steady breathing, wishing this morning could last forever. After a moment, she huffs a breath and leans up, figuring she might as well get ready for the day.

When she tries to shift off of the sleeping Turian, however, a strong hand wraps around her ankle. "Don't leave," a deep voice rumbles. "Keep going." He shifts his lower half under her in emphasis. "That felt good."

She raises a brow, but settles back. "You must have been dreaming about that because you nearly threw me through the headboard."

He releases her ankle and strokes his warm palm along her calf. "Sorry."

She smiles softly and rubs her palms along his back, gaining an appreciative purr in response. "If anyone should be apologizing it should be me. I bet getting brutalized isn't the way you wanted to wake up." She frowns and her hands slow. "I'm sorry that I'm asking so much from you by having you on the Normandy. I don't know how I can ever make it up to you."

He chuckles below her, the motion of his hitching chest making her wobble a bit. "It's not like I _don't_ want to be on the Normandy. Sure, the food is atrocious and the beds aren't comfortable, but there's no place I'd rather be." His other hand comes into play as he strokes along both of her legs. "Where else can I go and be with my mate _and_ have a hand in taking out a rogue Spectre?"

She chuckles and squeezes her hands over his. "I noticed you haven't been getting good sleep." She places her hands on his back and rubs her fingers in a slow, circular motion and he groans in pleasure. "I thought I'd give you a nice massage to make it up to you for having to sleep in crappy beds even by human standards." She rubs the knuckle of her index finger between to spine plates.

"You're definitely doing a good job," he rumbles, pushing his back up into her hold. "I should sleep on human beds more often if this is my reward."

She snorts. "If you deliberately go out and lose sleep I will force you down and make you endure a massage." She ghosts her hands over the sore spot, lightly caressing in silent apology but not going any further.

Garrus seems to think otherwise as he rolls his hips and thrums. "Go ahead. I need it. Even if it hurts at first, it always helps in the long run."

She pouts her lips in thought. "I thought your doctor told you to work more on your waist." She rubs a bit harder into the tense muscles. "That if you built up more muscle, you wouldn't be in such pain all the time."

He hums, a bit of pain laced in the tone. "I can't just work up my waist, Jane." She sees the dark shape of his head shift to look to her. "I already have to worry about younger Turians, dashing human Lieutenants, and blushing Asari catching your eye. What do you think will happen if I let my waist go? My dashing personality?"

She snorts and he rumbles a laugh, not in much more of a mood as he grunts when her fingers hit a particular spot. One hand leaves its task and strokes over his fringe in a soothing motion, an attempt to distract him from the pain as she moves to more pressure.

"I don't care if you end up the shape of a Volus, Garrus." He grunts, both in pain and dismissal. "I'd roll you around if I had to."

He laughs at that and she leans down to lay a soft kiss on the hide of his neck. "I'll think about it. How's that?"

_Better than nothing, I guess. Stubborn, vain Turian._ "I can only ask that." She presses hard, finally feeling the tension relax. She holds him with one hand as she works the last of it away, giving him a moment to calm before she speaks.

"Is there any way we can get you a Turian-styled cot?"

He grabs her leg, pulling her to the side as he shifts up and to the side. When they lay face to face, he nuzzles against her neck. "I already sent a ping message to my mother to ask her to send mine to the next station we dock at." He licks a quick kiss across her jaw.

"Then I'll be sure to let you know as soon as I'm told today where we're going next." She cups his face and nibbles playfully along his mandible.

He chuckles at the sensation, stroking one hand through her messy locks. "So I take it we aren't going to spent the last bit of our shore leave at home?"

She frowns and pulls his head to hers to press to his forehead. "I'm sorry, but I can't. I still have to acquire better food, check C-Sec for their Spectre stock, and follow up with Udina to see if the Council or the Alliance has any new leads for Saren."

He hums and goes silent for a moment, thinking. "Any way we can take a little time to ourselves first?"

Jane snorts. "What? Last night wasn't enough for you?"

With a growl, he rolls on top of her and nips at her clavicle. "Was it for you?"

She chuckles and tips her chin up, giving him silent acquiesce to continue. He runs his rough tongue up her neck before circling her ear with a purring thrum. "I'm always up for more. If you are," she challenges with a smirk on her lips.

"Oh, I'm up to it," his voice reverberates in his chest, the heat of his tones pulling a pant from her lips. He lowers his hips just enough to show her just how 'up to it he is' and it sends a spark of electricity through her belly.

"I'd say," she pants as he attacks her neck again, one hand dropping to her breast as the other holds him off of her. "You always wake up ready to go, Vakarian?" she asks even though she already knows the answer.

"You know the answer to that," he growls into her ear and she presses her chest up into his hand. "Plus, your little wake-up call wasn't exactly doing anything it keep me at bay."

She doesn't get to respond before he claims her mouth, his warm tongue wrapping around hers to pull soft moans from her throat. Her sounds only seem to turn him on more, as he pants around her connection and pulls her top him while shifting to his side.

His hands now free to explore, he drops the one holding his weight to her center and doesn't hesitant to start winding her up. He growls at the slickness already there from her anticipation and the vibration of his tongue makes her moan and suckle the blue muscle.

She pulls away, panting, while he drops his head to her neck to lave against the trail of nerves along her pulse. She throws her leg over his hip and pulls him closer to her, dropping one hand to wrap around him.

Understanding her silent cue, he releases her and pulls her body to him as she guides him to her center, not wanting to wait any longer to be connected with him. This may be the last time together for a while and she doesn't want to waste it teasing each other when they could be writhing together.

Once he's aligned, she releases him, her hands coming to his shoulders as he pulls her closer to engulf him. Jane throws her head back in a silent moan and he purrs at the contact of plates and flesh when he comes flush.

Their movements are slow and heavy, grinding against each other with their bodies as close as they can physically be. Their hands are constantly moving over their lover's body, stroking and caressing in silent worship and trying to remember everything to hold them off while on the ship. Jane pulls his head to hers and kisses him, their pants and moans intermingling as if they can share the other's life in their breath.

Their climaxes are simultaneous as he pulls her to his body and her fingers dig uselessly into his plates, her gasp echoing in his rumbled groan. They stay together through the afterglow, foreheads pressed together as they both silently wish the outside world to forget them in their little slice of heavenly peace.

They both would never voice their desire as they know it is a selfish thought when so many need their mission to continue, so they separate once their breathing returns to normal. Jane heads to the shower first, both knowing that if he joins her there will be no actual cleaning happening, and he takes it once she quickly cleans.

They dress and eat together, their melancholy of returning to their secret pushed aside as he agrees to join her in her errands before returning to the ship. She is happy to have his company, even if it must be as superior and subordinate getting supplies and not husband and wife.

"I think I want to take my sketchbooks on the Normandy," Jane says around a bite of toast. "And maybe my guitar. It gets so boring on the ship when we're in the middle of transit."

Garrus rumbles and nuzzles against her temple. "Can't say I will be happy to not have you around the cargo bay. I was really looking forward to teaching you how to fix the mess you make with the Mako."

She snorts and lifts her hand to rub against his plates. "I don't think there's enough time in the universe for me to learn that thing. You're so much better at stuff like that than I am." She turns to give him a quick peck of a kiss. "Besides, we weren't getting much _repairs_ done down there any ways."

He chuckles and rubs his chin over the top of her head, a habit he's starting to use whenever she has her hair in a bun because he claims he doesn't like her hair up. She grunts in frustration and waves a hand above her head to shoo him. "I know you don't like the bun, Garrus, but I'd really rather not spend forever fixing it again."

He grabs her flailing hand and tilts his head, dropping his version of a kiss on her scalp. "It's more than not liking the bun, Jane."

_More Turian things, obviously._ She pulls him to her side and smiles up at him. "Whatever it is, you can wait to mess up my hair until at the end of the day, not before I even go out."

He chuckles and takes her, now empty, plate from the table. "So, I take it you're ready to head out?"

She smiles and moves to him, wrapping her arms around his back. "Maybe if we get done in time, we can come back and relax a bit before having to report to the ship."

He drops his hands to hers and thrums deep in his chest, the vibrations against her face a body against his back making her chuckle at the sensation. "Tell me that and I won't let you browse like you like to do."

She can't really find argument against his threat and pulls him to turn around, lifting on her toes as he drops. Their kiss is slow and loving, the touch of tongue not one of lust but of wordless devotion. When they pull apart, it is not far as they nuzzle, forehead to forehead, with a soft purr from his throat and a warm smile on her lips.

With a heavy sigh, they separate and put on the masks they wear around the universe, she of the immovable Commander Shepard and he of the arrogant C-Sec officer who took Saren as a personal mission.

These masks and personas are weights on their shoulders, a burden only the other can see and feel but they are powerless to address. Their mission must come before their emotions and wants, so they don't mention the defeated look in their lover's eyes and instead climb into their transit as officer and soldier.


	19. Chapter 18

-Jane-

Their mission to stop the asteroid from crashing into the colony of Terra Nova was brutal, with the rush to shut down the torches thrusting the rock into the planet and the split second decision concerning the trapped workers.

Before she had left the Citadel, Ilden'Ril had approached her and warned of a hidden threats within Hegemony transmissions. Though his motives for even being in Batarian communications seemed suspicious, she was worried enough to check out the system.

She can't say she was happy to find out the assassin was telling the truth when they picked up a desperate plea for help, but it was refreshing to find that someone wasn't openly sending her into a trap.

Nearly ten hours later and she and her team were exhausted. Garrus all but disappeared down in the cargo bay, probably to try to sleep on his uncomfortable bed, while Ashley took to the mess to catch some grub. Jane was left with the wonderful job of having to file a mission report to the Alliance detailing their work against Balak and his men, not getting a chance to rest or follow up with her crew until it's complete.

"That was a ballsy move, Commander." Jane looks up from her report across the table to Williams with a raised brow. "If you don't mind me saying," she immediately adds.

Jane leans back in her chair, crossing her legs at the ankle below the table. "And what move was that, Chief?"

She chews her bite of food before answering. "Letting that bastard think we were going to let him walk, only to shoot him in the back." Jane smirks at the memory. "How did you know you'd be able to shut off the bombs in time?"

When the Batarian leader, Balak, had threatened to blow the bombs in the main station and kill the group of engineers if Jane hadn't let him go, she immediately came up with another solution. She agreed to let him and his group leave peacefully under one condition: that he hand over the detonator for the charges, stating there was nothing keeping him from setting them off the moment he left their visual.

Despite his reluctance, he knew he was cornered and trapped, no options and no real pull in the situation. Jane swore she wouldn't give him all the cards in the situation when he was so clearly outmatched and grasping at straws. He eventually handed over the detonator, demanding she keep her word, which she did, at least until his whole group turned their backs.

With a quick look to Garrus, she nodded her command. He never hesitated, taking Balak out with a clean shot before taking down another when they panicked. Ashley quickly caught on to the plan, opening fire while Jane rushed past with all her focus on deactivating the bombs.

She knows it was a risky move, but there was no way she was going to let the Batarian bastards walk away. There was an old saying on Earth: 'we do not negotiate with terrorists', and that was exactly what ran through her head during his rant of revenge and justice. Sure, she ran the risk of losing the team of engineers, but what was a few lost compared to the many more he was a risk to?

Taking a deep breath, Jane rubs a fist at one tired eye. "I didn't exactly know I'd make it, Williams. Sure, I trusted you and Vakarian to cover me, but if it got too heavy, I was more than willing to switch my attentions to taking out the bastards firing on me."

The Lieutenant looks to them from his workstation. "Would you really have sacrificed those innocent people, Commander?"

Jane looks over her shoulder and to Kaidan at her side. "It's not like I wanted to. That's the whole point of trying to find a work around… But I wasn't just going to stick my head up my ass and let a man, who clearly held no remorse for his actions, walk away to do it again." She shrugs and tosses her report on the table, complete enough to turn in to the brass. "What's a handful of engineers lost when compared to the possible thousands he could target next? I wasn't willing to take the chance he'd just go out and target another colony, are you?"

Alenko falls quiet in his corner as Williams ponders the thought. She takes a drink and sets it down, looking up to Jane with determination in her eyes. "No, ma'am. I see your meaning. It would have sucked to lose those people, but you're right. Letting him go was just too risky to chance it."

Jane nods and looks over to the Lieutenant, who still looks troubled. "I don't need you to force yourself to agree with me, Kaidan. You are all open and free to your own opinions." He looks up to her and gives a weak nod.

"There was one other thing I was needing to ask." Ashley's brows are drawn down in deep thought when Jane turns back to her. "Permission to speak freely, ma'am?"

_Here it comes._ "Permission granted. Have at it, Chief."

"Well, it's just that… you and Vakarian seem to be speaking another language on the battlefield." She scratches her ear while she tries to come up with the words to explain. "Like with that bastard, Balak, you just looked to him and he knew exactly what to do."

Jane blinks in confusion. _How am I supposed to explain that?_ Luckily, Alenko interrupts before Jane has to come up with a believable excuse.

"I think it's just because he's on so many mission with the Commander." His voice is muffled as he works on a piece of tech at his station, but the two woman can still easily make out his words.

Williams shakes her head and huffs. "That's just it, Commander." Jane looks to her with a raised brow. "He's on every ground team. It's just weird that you're so confident with a Turian watching your back."

"You think I'm playing favorites?" _Which is exactly what I'm doing._ "You don't think there's a logical reason behind who I choose for my teams?" Jane fights her inner screams and rising anger with the Chief. She did give her free reign to address her issues, but questioning her decisions on the field is one of her biggest peeves.

It doesn't even have to do with the fact that her questioning is awfully close to the truth and more to do with her command coming under scrutiny. Her marriage doesn't fall anywhere near her decision making for ground teams because if Garrus was an absolutely horrible solider, she's damn sure she'd leave him behind on the ship. His skills at long range and taking out tech is just an added bonus of having him on the Normandy.

No, Williams has hit a nerve in Commander Shepard, not Jane Vakarian, and she must be called out. "I'll try to make this clear, Williams." Jane sits up and leans one forearm across the table. "Vakarian is on every ground team because he's a damn good solider. Have you ever thought that maybe I take him is because I need a member on my squad to balance out my skill set?" Williams' eyes widen when Jane's narrow. "I'm an up-close-and-personal fighter, using mostly shotguns and biotics, and I need someone who can cover my long range and throw out tech when I can't take out synthetics. I _do not_ play favorites on this ship, I play the field I've been given."

The Chief blinks a moment in stunned silence, Jane leans back in her seat and crosses her arms, waiting for the inevitable response. Sure, she's pissed that she's been caught taking her husband on every mission, but she's telling the complete truth when she says she needs his fighting style to even her own out.

"I just think…" Ashley looks to her tray and pushes the last scraps of her food around. "I just think that if you gave me a chance, I could cover your long range issue. I _do_ have sniper rifle training, you know."

"And my tech needs?" Jane waves one hand dismissively to the side.

"I could cover your tech needs," Kaidan pipes up from his corner. "And I could help boost your biotics in the field."

_Great, I'm being tag-teamed._ Jane breathes deeply to help calm her frustration. "You two want to show me what you got?" She looks to both to receive quick nods. "We're heading to Klensal in the morning to take out some cartel thugs and their leader. Chief, you think you can cover my back from long range? Then I only want to see you using your rifle and only switching in close quarters." She holds a hand up to stop the other woman's protest. "I don't want to hear it… This is your decision to question my choice of team, so you're stuck filling in a role you claim to have a handle on."

Jane looks over her shoulder to the Lieutenant. "And you, Alenko, are my tech go-to. I'd rather you not fry your amp and focus instead on throwing out disruption." Jane turns back, picks up her report, and stands. "The two of you check with Clark to see if he has anything in his stock better than what you already have. Finish up what you're working on and turn in for the night. I need the two of you ready, bright and early, for landing."

They both shoot out a 'yes, ma'am', both still obviously stunned from Jane's agreement and her harsh orders. She knows this arrangement won't last as she doesn't like going into the field with no knowledge of her complete team dynamics, but if doing this keeps their minds off of the fact that she seems to be spending more time with her mate, then she will find a way to manage.

She leaves the two and heads up to the CIC to turn her report in to Pressley to send off to the Alliance. She has to admit that the man has warmed up a bit to the alien crew and it feels nice to not have such a heavy feeling on tension when talking to him. He still has a bit of mistrust, sure, but she's not going to complain with the little bit of improvement.

Once she hands over her report and is given the assurance of it being sent off promptly, she heads back towards the lower level. She calls the elevator with a sigh, knowing full well the response she's going to get once she tells her husband of her newest decision. She knows he'll take it for what it is, an appeasement to another one of the petty squabbles of her crew, but she also knows he won't really enjoy the fact that he won't be there to watch her six.

She finds him under the Mako, as usual, and most likely working on repairing some damage they obtained from the asteroid today. _I'm still pissed about those charges buried around that one torch._ She makes her way to his station and wastes no time crawling under.

"I see you're hard at work." He easily hooks a hand into her shirt and helps pull her up to lay evenly at his side. "Did I at least do a better job keeping her in one piece?"

Garrus rumbles in humor and hands her a twisted piece of metal. "You tell me."

Jane frowns at the hunk of scrap in her hand, confused and unable to even distinguish what it is. It's black, like it's slightly charred, and flecks of yellow paint are barely visible along its surface. She knows the Mako never had any yellow paint on it, so she can't quite place its importance or origins.

"Okay, I give up…What is this?"

He chuckles and finishes sliding a panel back into place on the undercarriage. "Don't quite know." He takes it from her hands now that his attention is no longer on repairs. "Figure it must be something you hit up there above Terra Nova. It was jammed up in this section of the undercarriage, but didn't do any real damage."

Jane smiles and shrugs. "Must not be important, then."

"I would hope not." He flicks a mandible and tosses it aside. "So, I take it you aren't here to offer to help repair the damage you've done?"

She takes his hand and scoots a small bit closer, just enough to feel his heat radiating against her uniformed body but not enough to actually touch. "I don't think you're ever going to see me down here to actually help with that." With a sigh, she takes his hand, linking her fingers in his, and lowers her voice. "I have to tell you something, though, and I already know you aren't going to like it."

He squeezes her hand once and rumbles for her to continue. Jane turns her head to finally look to him and smiles when he shifts to do the same. "Williams questioned why I always have you on the ground team." Her smile drops. "She and Alenko pretty much backed me into a corner wondering what makes you so special."

He growls low in the back of his throat. "And did you tell them it's none of their damn business?"

Jane scowls and tugs his hand in the only reprimand she can pull off without attracting attention. "You know full well that I couldn't say that… Could you imagine what they'd think if I suddenly became all defensive?" He rumbles softly in appeasement and she sighs. "I told them that I had you around because you balanced me out on the field, but that only brought up more protest."

"Glad to see my skills have made an impression." He brings her hand to his lip plates and gives it a soft nip. "It'd be unfortunate to know that you only have me around to work on your tank and be eye candy."

Jane snorts a soft laugh. "It's so weird to hear so many human sayings coming out of your mouth." She strokes across his hand with her thumb, trying to decide how to tell him the worst of her talk with her human crew.

After a moment of silence, she takes a deep breath, releasing it slowly before beginning. "I told them that I'd take them on the next ground mission."

In any other situation, his startled grunt would be comical, but here, all it does is make her close her eyes in expectation. "Jane, we've already gotten into the habit of trusting each other to watch our backs and cover the field. Are you sure you can trust them to do the same?"

She has to admit that his reaction is actually pretty subdued to what she was expecting, and finally looking into his eyes and seeing the bottled emotion, she can tell he's definitely holding back his protest. "Garrus," she says softly, slightly more than a plea. "I can't let my crew get suspicious of why you're on my team. If I can prove that you're there because you really are as good as I say, then I can shove it in their faces once and for all." Jane lets his hand go to cup his mandible. "I've been on a ground mission with them before, so I know how to change my fighting to fit them. Everything will be fine, I promise."

His chest vibrates in a low thrum, but he doesn't say anything as he shifts to pull her head to his. He presses softly against her forehead before huffing a warm breath against her face. "Alright, Jane. I trust you to know your crew and know what you're doing. I don't like it, but you've been doing this long before we met." He gives her a quick equivalent to a human kiss. "Just be careful."

Jane smiles and strokes softly against his mandible, trying to draw out this sweet moment together before reality crashes around. Unfortunately, the blissful moment is shattered by the sound of the elevator being called up to the previous level.

"That's probably Williams or Alenko coming down to check and see if Clark has any better supplies for tomorrow." Jane frowns in apology, smiling weakly at his forgiving quirk of mandible, and quickly crawls out from under the tank.

"Have this thing in working order for tomorrow, Vakarian," she calls out with a smile as she hears the elevator descending. Tomorrow may be difficult for him to sit back while she takes another to watch her six, but she knows he's fears will be unfounded.


	20. Chapter 19

-Garrus-

"Doctor Chakwas to the med bay." Garrus' interest zeros in on the pilot's voice over the ship wide intercom. He lays his newly reassembled assault rifle down on the workbench and immediately heads out of the crew quarters, a feeling of dread settling in his gizzard.

He turns the corner just in time to see Jane being ushered through the med bay doors by Chakwas, her leg arm limp and a trail of blood droplets in his path. His eyes widen at the implication, but his shock instantly turns to anger when the confused voice of the Gunnery Chief drifts across the way.

"I thought I hit the guy…I mean, I saw him go down." She's sitting as the mess table, her elbows on the table with one hand tangled in her bedraggled hair. "You saw it, Kaidan. I hit that guy, right?"

The Lieutenant stands, leaning against the table with his hip. "You must have just clipped him, Ash."

Garrus doesn't think he can stick with this arrangement he and his wife have as he all but stomps towards the two human soldiers, a low growl in the back of his throat. "You 'just clipped him'?" Williams' eyes widen and she stands defensively at the angered Turian. "Just what the hell were you thinking?"

She scowls, her feet widening in a firm stance. "Just who the hell do you think you are? You have no authority to talk shit and charge me." She shoves one hand into his chest with little effect. "You think I'm afraid of you, you skull-faced fuck?!"

With an infuriated flick of his mandible, Garrus grabs the Chief's hand when she tries to shove him again. His grip is strong and he knows he could easily break the delicate bones in the woman's hand, but he simply shoves her back. "Shove me again and see what happens." The woman stumbles a bit at that, but her glare is still present as she quickly regains her stance. "It was your job to watch your commander's back. You claimed to be able to cover long range and yet you can't even hit a target?"

"What the fuck do you know? You weren't there, Vakarian, so don't act like you have any right." Kaidan stands and puts a calming hand on her shoulder, but the woman shrugs it off.

"I didn't have to be there to see that you're too stupid to understand the simple fact that we're all expendable, Shepard is not." The two soldiers gasp and draw back, but Garrus continues, too worked up over seeing his mate's trail of blood to control his anger. "If she dies, the mission is over. The Council sure as hell isn't going to give either of you two fucking idiots a Spectre appointment to go after Saren. If Shepard goes down, we all do."

"That's bullshit," Williams says, most of her ire gone in the face of the pissed off Turian. "The Alliance wouldn't stand for it…"

"No, you're bullshit." He points towards the med bay. "Maybe your Alliance teaches you to demand fair treatment from your superiors so your feelings won't be hurt and then be perfectly fine with the consequences, but in the Hierarchy? We're taught that we don't mean shit if the commanding officer doesn't make it out." He shoves Williams back against Alenko with a reverberating growl. "You're expendable, she's not."

"Enough!" Jane's anger drains the entire room of argument.

All three soldiers immediately look to her, her upper armor pulled off and her undersuit peeled away from her bleeding shoulder. She waves the doctor off of her wound and storms towards her subordinates, clamping a hand against the bullet wound once it starts to bleed again.

"Vakarian, you're out of line." She glares at him, his wife completely gone and replaced by the Spectre and Commander. "You have no place reprimanding my crew," she turns her glare on Williams, "_no matter_ how badly they fucked shit up groundside. Williams… If I catch you shoving _anyone_ on my ship and it's not on the sparring mat, I won't hesitate to break your fingers myself."

The Chief straightens and locks her neck, but not looking Jane directly in the eye. Though she just ripped into him, his mate's tirade hasn't done much to cool his frustration. Even the smell of her blood between his fingers isn't helping, but he knows his place and resigns to hold his tongue.

"And one more thing, Williams." Jane turns to the woman and points a bloody finger in her face. "Vakarian is right, you missed your shot and Alenko almost suffered from it." The woman's eyes widen and Jane's brows lower. "That's right, princess, I wasn't just charging because I expected him to go down, I charged because he was directly in Kaidan's blind spot. Your pride to show up my judgment on the field nearly cost your crewman a hole in the head. Or am I wrong, Lieutenant?"

The group turns to the one person who tried his best to stay out of the argument and be the mediator. He drops his head with a heavy sigh before nodding softly. "Yes, ma'am. I would've been in a worse situation if you hadn't have stepped in and thrown a warp out." He looks up to the two women with a saddened look in his eyes. "You took the shot in your shoulder at the last moment before he went down."

Jane nods once and turns to the med bay. "Great. That's settled… Get the hell out of my sight, all of you. And if I ever hear another word out of anyone's mouth questioning my decision of who to take on my team, I won't hesitate to shoot every last one of you fuckers out the airlock." She doesn't wait for their responses before entering the bay to let the doctor tend to her wound.

The two humans speak in hushed tones, Kaidan trying to calm the useless woman, and Garrus clenches his fists. He knows he spoke out of line, but if his wife would just stop trying to make friends and instead run the ship like a commander should, they wouldn't be having these problems with blatant disrespect.

Still, he will not start another argument with the stupid human female he has yet to see a purpose for, so he turns to leave, deciding that the one place he can properly try to cool off would be far away from these two sniveling children in the cargo bay. Perhaps he can beat the Mako into submission long enough to get a chance to cool down before he can try to see if he can appease Jane.

That brings up another problem, one that Garrus knows may not be able to be addressed on the ship with so many ears around to overhear. He knows he was right in his reluctance to let the Gunnery Chief go on this mission and the outcome all but proves it. He knows she's a capable warrior and soldier, but his instinct to protect his wife and mate runs deep. It's why their arrangement to have him watch her back worked so perfectly, she could lead as the Spectre and Commander and he could make sure to watch the blind spots that every person has while she did the same. The problem lies in her want to always do right by others, to show equal opportunity and make friends, even at the cost of a stable squad.

They may never see eye to eye on this, but he has to make her at least see the cost of her want to associate more with her crew. He knows she'll take it as an affront to her sense of command, but he's willing to fight to help her see otherwise. The only drawback that holds him back from trying to make her see this and to understand that he cannot control what his frustration and anger will make him do is the simple fact that he regrets possibly wasting any of the little time they get together arguing.

Unfortunately, when he makes it down to his workstation, he knows that such a disagreement will be inevitable. He and Jane are just too stubborn to back down from fighting for what they believe in. He only hopes that they can find a way not to fight away their only time alone.

-

It's late in the evening when he gets a ping of a message on his Omni-Tool. A quick glance tells him all he needs to know to determine what the night will hold, Jane wants to talk in her cabin. With a sigh over the inevitable and an obvious turn to ignore Wrex's knowing chuckle, Garrus moves to the elevator and calls the lift.

The moment the door to her cabin opens to admit him, he barely dodges an incoming punch. He isn't able to brush aside the knee to his waist, but takes advantage of it not being as strong as the assaulter intended due to Jane probably under the influence of pain medication.

"You bastard," Jane grunts when Garrus spins her and pulls her uninjured arm across her chest, pulling her back against his chest. "How dare to pull a stunt like that. What the fuck were you thinking?!"

His earlier anger quickly returning at her dismissive attitude, Garrus pulls her up onto her toes with a growl. "I was thinking that if you weren't going to put Williams in her place, I would."

"That's not your job. It's mine, you asshole."

"Consider yourself relieved of that duty on account of you constantly trying to play nice." She tries to swing her injured arm back into his waist, but he clasps an immovable hand around her wrist. "Are you really that stupid to think that_Alenko_ is more valuable than yourself? Honestly, Jane. You've got to be better than that."

She kicks fruitlessly against his stronger hold. "You mother fucker! How dare you?! I'm not your little pet you have to _protect_. I've been fighting for longer than I've even known you or anyone else on this god damn ship!"

With a harsh growl, Garrus lifts her body completely off the ground, her legs kicking back and trying to hit but failing as she screams in frustration. "I know you have, Jane," he says once her protests quiet enough to get in a word. "I'm not demanding you lay down your weapons and lock yourself away, but I'm damn well demanding you start treating this like a hunt for a rogue Spectre and less like a popularity contest. What's the point of being their friends and catering to their sensibilities if they can't even prove themselves on the battlefield?"

"This isn't your place to question how I do my job. Don't you respect me enough to let me command as I choose?"

Garrus rumbles in exasperation. This is exactly how he feared she'd react and he doesn't know how to get his point across. "I can't stay on this ship watching you put your crew's petty differences before you or your mission." She swings her head back and he ducks his own into the back of her neck, limiting her mobility. "I can't fight my need to make sure your safe and I know that all you really need is a gun at your back that you can trust without pause. I'm willing to sacrifice everything to keep this damn secret you're so determined to keep, but I can't handle you demanding I stand back while you get injured because of a stupid mistake. If that's what you expect from me, then I'd rather take my anger out at C-Sec than endanger your chance at _making friends_ of your crew."

Jane tilts her head up, putting pressure against his own at her neck. Her breaths are heavy and laden with her seething ire. She struggles, testing his hold, and he growls a low warning before her muscles tense.

"You're never going to change the way you see this, are you?" Her voice sounds like she's speaking with a clenched jaw, but Garrus will not back down. He's done as she's asked many of times on the Normandy, but this is something he will not budge.

She sighs and her body loosens a fraction. "I don't think I can ever accept your views and I will always fight you about this, but I don't want to spend this whole night arguing with you. Put me down, Garrus."

His mandible flickers in distrust, but he can't really keep her elevated all night, so he lowers her slowly. Just as he suspected, the moment her feet hit the ground and his hold on her arms slacken, she throws an elbow back and hits him right across the upper plate of his nose.

He draws back with a groan, but manages to grab her foot as she brings it up in a kick. He throws her foot down before stepping close and hooking his own behind it. With a quick pull back of his foot and shove of his hands, she topples to the floor and he wastes no time straddling her torso and pinning her wrists with his hands.

"You're slow, Jane," he purrs, his anger easily mixing into completely different, but not at all undesirable, feelings.

"You only have the advantage because Chakwas gave me some fucking meds." She struggles in his grasp but only receives a low growl and tightened hold. "What? You want to continue this argument on the cold floor?"

"I have better ideas." He drops his head to her neck and roughly runs his tongue along her pulse, rumbling at her responding gasp and stuttered breath. "Sounds like you aren't opposed."

"I'm still pissed at you. You sure you want to put anything sensitive anywhere near me when I'm pissed off?"

"Come on, Jane. You said it yourself, we may never agree on this but neither wants to waste this moment fighting." He shifts his hold on her wrists to take them in one hand and grasps the back of her head forcefully. "Let's use this anger for something more _productive_."

He shoves her mouth against his own, relishing the vibrations of her lustful moan and immediately claiming her mouth. He doesn't give her a chance to take control as he pulls away right as she seems to find and match his rhythm. He can smell her arousal and he doesn't want to spend time warming each other up when they're already so ready.

He shifts just enough that she must have wiggled a leg free as he feels the sudden pain of her foot grinding against one of his spurs. He growls, but is caught off guard as she manages to lift herself enough to throw him and nearly switch their positon. Fortunately for him, he maintains a hold on one of her wrists and keeps her from completely pinning him.

What he doesn't count on his her hand shooting up to his fringe, quick as lighting, and squeezing and jerking back hard enough for his sight to run blue for an instant. He can't control the growling moan or sharp jerk of his hips against her own as his mind starts to blank out, a need for release coming straight to the forefront. Jane must know what she's done, because he notices a smirk cross her lips before she violently pulls his head to the side and bites down against his hide.

The next movements are a blur as his mind shorts out at the sensations. One moment they are tangled together in a mess of limbs and equal control over the other and the next, he has her shoulders shoved face-down into the metal flooring of her cabin.

She moans in need as she presses her ass into his hands and he fumbles to unlatch his armor. He doesn't even bother to remove her pants, simply cutting through the layers of fabric with his talons before lining himself up.

With a feral growl, he twists a hand into her flaming mane and pulls her head back, causing her back to arch before thrusting completely into her center. Her position causes her scream to become a gasp as her fingers clench uselessly against the metal grating.

If he was in the right mind, he would be able to appreciate the fact that his smooth entry was obviously because she enjoyed their scuffle, but all he's focused on now is forcing his mate to submit, his primal mind fighting to show dominance. Jane mewls and undulates below him with each movement, vague words of 'bastard' and 'piece of shit' making it through the haze to show him she won't give in easily.

Soon, his mind clears enough to loosen the death grip in her hair and shift his body over hers, his hand dropping down to her center. He licks up her sweat slick neck and purrs into her ear when he feels her press back and give him more room.

Their fury completely dissipates with the tightening of her inner muscles and the release of his seed, their bodies slowly shifting together to coax out the last of the aftershocks. When they finally come to rest, Garrus rumbles in soft apology for everything, making a scene with her subordinates, her injury, their argument, his refusal to bend, his forceful claim, and the rough sex, but she simply smiles and runs a hand along his mandible.

"I'm sorry that I've been asking so much from you. I don't want you to leave the Normandy." Garrus' only response is a soft rumble in agreement before slipping out and taking her in his arms to the bed. He lays her down and lets her pull him into a slow kiss. "I don't care what gossip goes around the ship. I want you on every ground team from now on." She presses her forehead to his as he pulls the blankets out from under her body. "I can't do this without you…but that's if you still even want to stay."

The hope and pain in her eyes brings such pain to his chest that he struggles to speak. He would never abandon her, no matter how different their outlook on her methods, and he never wants her to think otherwise. "Jane," he cups her cheek. "I would never leave the Normandy. I'll follow you into hell and back."

They don't speak much more that night, instead resolving to lay in each other's arms on her uncomfortable bed. He softly rubs around her wound in silent regret for possibly hurting her during their fight while she waves off his concern with a smile. They don't exactly know when they end up falling asleep, but they wake with smiles on their faces and love and devotion shining in their eyes. They share one last kiss before he climbs from bed and heads down to his bunk before shifts can change and suspicions can be aroused.


	21. Chapter 20

-Jane-

"Joker," Jane calls out as she leans against the railing above the galaxy map. "Set course for Noveria. I think it's about time we find out just what the Geth think is so important there."

"Hate to burst your bubble, Commander, but looks like Alliance Command has other plans." Jane holds back the frustrated groan at the pilot's words, holding her tongue instead to see what the brass wanted. "I'll patch them through…"

"Commander Shepard, this is Alliance Command," the familiar voice of Admiral Hackett rings through the CIC. "I've been made aware of some disturbing information that we need you to look into. Reports are of numerous murders of former Alliance scientists, a total of at least four in the past month. We seem to think they've all been targeted for a single reason and we'd like you to take care of it."

Jane frowns and tightens her hold on the galaxy map. _I'm already on a mission and they want me to run around trying to find some lunatic?_ "Admiral, I'm hunting Saren… am I really your only option to look into this?"

"Don't forget Shepard that you're still Alliance and this is a serious matter to attend to. Though you may think otherwise, we believe you may have a more personal approach." One of her brows rise in intrigue. "Of all of these scientists' files, the one common factor was their work on a classified project on Akuze." Her eyes widen, her fingers clenching tight enough in the metal beneath them to make a small creak. "Unofficially, we believe you may have a greater grasp on the situation given your unique connection to Akuze."

Though her curiosity and mind are demanding she take this task for answers, she knows it would be solely for selfish interests. Catching Saren before he tries to pull another Eden Prime or figures out a way to actually bring back the Reapers as he's planning comes before herself. After all, is it really worth it to jump down the rabbit hole that could be secrets behind Akuze after it has taken her so long to overcome the survivor's guilt and nightmares?

Despite her knowing the right thing to do, she knows she actually has to say in the matter. She sighs, hoping that this agreement doesn't hinder their progress. "Do you have _anything_ that might point me in the right direction?" she asks, exasperated.

"There was one other scientist on the project," the Admiral's voice continues, unaware of her inner annoyance. "His name is Dr. Wayne and I'm transmitting his last known coordinates. If the incident on Akuze was more than a freak accident, we need to know. What you do with this knowledge is entirely up to you… I just thought you'd want to know."

_Sure you did._ She thinks sarcastically. _That's why you all but demanded me to prove my allegiance to the Alliance by guilt-tripping me into taking on this mission. It's not like I really even have a choice._

"We'll take the job, Admiral." Jane straightens her stance, finding it easier to fake an understanding attitude if she's more at attention. It's not like she doesn't like the Admiral, she just wishes the brass would stop treating her like the only marine out here in space.

"Good luck, Shepard. Fifth Fleet out." The call cuts out and she drops her head with a long breath.

"Want me to set course, Commander?" Joker's voice is suspiciously lacking of any of his trademark sarcasm, perhaps because he can sense the shortness of her fuse.

She rubs at her healing shoulder, knowing she won't be able to use her shotgun if they come into enemy contact. "Set course for wherever the fuck the Alliance sent us. Hopefully we aren't too far out."

A quick pause, most likely as he's setting the ship to the coordinates, before he responds. "Not too far out, Commander. Looks like you have just enough time to figure out which of the crew isn't on your bad side enough to go groundside."

She rolls her eyes and steps down from the map. "Funny… keep it up and you'll be going down with us."

"Uh, no thanks… I'll just pilot the ship. You know, so we don't all die and I get to keep all of my bones in one piece."

She only shakes her head as she passes through the sliding doors and heads to the elevator, both to gear up and call on her squad. She's resolved to never let Williams' ire over her ground team get to her and will always take Garrus with her on the field, following her previous plans to choose her third according to her knowledge of what to expect.

Fighting alongside her husband is just so much smoother. Though he may not be actively enrolled in the military, she knows Turian training runs deep, possibly giving him an advantage to her Alliance soldiers solely because of the higher standards of the Hierarchy. She should never have questioned her instincts in keeping him on the field when the Chief brought it up, though she admits that her fear of their relationship being discovered could have given her some panic.

She will not let what happened down in that gang hideout happen again. She and her crew cannot be at their best if they cannot trust in each other's capabilities. Her best sniper is, and will always be, her mate and though Williams is a good and competent solider, her long range can never compare.

_I'm going to have to try and calm the waters with my Gunnery Chief,_ she thinks as she takes the slow elevator down to the cargo bay.

She had already gotten in touch with Alenko and patched things up as much as she could. He was shaken up from Garrus' outburst, sure, but she's positive it was mostly from seeing three people lose their shit all at once. Looking back, she is happy that at least one of them tried to keep a clear enough head to try and mediate her furious husband and Williams. All in all, he wasn't at fault from the situation and just ended up finding himself in the middle of the shit storm of dominant personalities.

_Sometimes I wonder why he's a soldier. He just doesn't seem the type._ Jane makes her way to the Mako and raps a knuckle against the metal, her eyes moving up to where she can hear metal tapping on the tank's roof.

"Vakarian. You're up for ground team." His form appears over the lip of the vehicle as he pulls himself down. "There's a change in plans. We're heading out to handle something for the Alliance before hitting Noveria."

He flicks a mandible in the biggest sign of his confusion he'll make in public. "Well, I guess that's somewhat good news if the rumors of Noveria are true."

She raises a brow. "Oh? And what, pray tell, are the rumors of Noveria?"

"That it's cold and almost entirely frozen." He grabs his tools from around the tank and starts to put them away. "Turians don't really like the cold. We get this thing called freezing, not too pleasant of a feeling and something I'd really like to avoid if at all possible."

She smirks at his good humored flick and leans back on one foot. "So, does that mean you _don't_ want on the ground team?" His brow plates shift down in a quick glare and Jane twists her lips to hold back a laugh. "Alright, so Turian popsicle it is… Get geared up now, though. We drop soon."

"Yes, ma'am." She leaves him to finish up cleaning his station, making sure the Mako is ready, and getting prepared for their landing.

Without a second thought, she approaches Wrex. The Krogan hasn't been on a ground mission in some time and with Noveria being a perfect chance to test Liara or Tali's expertise on synthetics not being useful, he's the perfect choice for the job.

"Shepard," he greets, no emotion in his voice or in the stance of his massive body.

"Wrex." Jane looks him and his little alcove of a station over, taking note of his newly modded shotgun and armor she found on the Citadel. "We hit ground soon and I want you with me." She smirks and pointedly jerks her chin towards his new weapon. "You ready to test that baby out?"

He rumbles and his lip curls up in a feral smile. "I thought you'd be too busy playing pussy foot with your human crew to ask."

She pouts her lip in exasperation and tilts her head slightly, her brows straightening out in a light glare. "You will never find me 'pussy footing' around… How in the hell you even know that term, I'll never know and probably don't even want to know. Just be ready for when we drop. You'll be taking the lead this time," she rubs her shoulder, stiff from the layers of healing gel and pain killers, "I won't be useless on the field, but I'll be stuck with a pistol." Her voice lowers with a mock pout. "I'm really going to miss using my boom stick."

Wrex laughs and slaps a heavy hand on her good shoulder, making her whole body vibrate from the impact. Turning to his station to prepare, Jane then looks over her shoulder to double check with her husband's progress.

_Mako looks good and ready and he's off to get into his set of new armor._Deciding their isn't anything left for her to do but get into her armor and prep her weapons, she heads back to the elevator to suit up.

When they land on Ontarom and locate the last known location of Dr. Wayne's coordinates before his tech went silent, they don't quite expect the amount of mercenaries they find at the mountain-side base. Where they expected maybe a small group of vigilantes or members of families wanting answers, they ended up getting what looked like a full scale merc operation.

The sheer amount of enemy forces they found themselves fighting was only aiding in Hackett's suspicion that Akuze may not have been a complete accident. That thought only made Jane angry and more confused the further through the base they got.

"How's that little peashooter for you?" Wrex rumbles as they catch their breaths in a descending lift.

"This ole thing?" Jane smirks and holds up the pistol, showing her team the smear of blood along its barrel from an unlucky merc she bashed when he came too close. "I should hope a Spectre weapon can handle itself."

"It'll never compare to the power of a _real_ gun." Wrex's plated glove strokes down his own weapon, almost lovingly.

Garrus snorts, finally gaining the attention of the other two and stepping into the conversation. "Please… The only _real_ gun is this one right here." He raises his sleek black rifle, Spectre issue only, and sights down the barrel. "Only this baby was able to pierce clean through that merc's helmet."

Wrex scowls across the lift to the Turian and Jane chuckles. "Down boys. Play with your toys later." The lifts slows and she pulls up her pistol, the other two instantly snapping back into fighting mode. "Looks like we hit our stop."

She leads them through a winding corridor of hallways and locking doors into a large room filled with stacked crates. She hears the footsteps and voices of more mercs and she motions Wrex around a wall of consoles to their left.

He wordlessly takes the lead, charging around the cover and pushing them into her and Garrus' position as they flank right. She mostly focuses on using her biotics, throwing and lifting any enemies that seem to be in a better position to cause trouble for the charging Krogan.

As her biotics cool, she sights down her pistol and works on those closer to her position while Garrus covers the longer ranged targets. A few shots get through their onslaught, but not enough to cause enough harm to drop their shields or barriers before they have a chance to drop back into cover.

"Garrus, there's a Krogan heading towards Wrex. Focus on clearing the field… We don't need that bastard changing targets and charging us." She throws a group of smaller targets around the Krogans feet.

He rumbles acknowledge through the loud recoil of a shot as Wrex plows towards the opposite Krogan. The two massive warriors hit each other with their weapons of metal and fist interchangeably. It's an amazing show of raw power and might, but Jane knows full well the task at hand as she lifts one of the remaining handful of mercenaries.

"Go easy on the biotics, Jane." Garrus' voice is rough with adrenaline, but she can still here the lower tones of concern. "Don't blow yourself out."

With a grunt, she uses one last throw to cause Wrex's foe to stumble. The red plated Krogan wastes no time stomping a heavy foot on the downed figure's head before dropping his gun and firing point blank into the soft parts of his face, leaving a bloody mess behind.

As their blood slows and their breaths calm, the scan the room, quiet now that they stand victorious. Wrex approaches Jane and her husband with a satisfied grin on his wide lips. "Well, looks like that little toy you call a gun_can_ shoot something."

Jane rolls her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. My pistol is _tiny_ compared to your big, bad and scary shotgun."

The Krogan laughs. "I wasn't talking to you, Shepard. I was talking to the boy." Garrus scowls good-naturedly, already seeming to be used to the Krogan's goading –probably from spending most of the time in the cargo bay together.

Happy that she they aren't actually going at it like some of the other times they've been together, she lets herself smile a tired, but satisfied smile. Sure, they're still in enemy territory, but this is a moment to cool down and collect anything they can use in the cabinets of this room and she can't begin to say how refreshing it is to not have everyone at their throats.

She enjoys the lack of drama with these two. Granted, not all of her crew bring their problems into the battlefield and, really, only _one_ actually seems to be the problem, but it just feels nicer to work with these two.

Perhaps it may even boil down to the fact that she and Garrus aren't having to watch their tongues around Wrex because he already found out despite their best efforts. Perhaps it may even be because even though he knows about them, he doesn't give two shits about it. Sure, she and Garrus aren't dropping trou whenever they please and going at it like rabbits, but they also aren't worrying about coming across as something more than teammates.

_Too much drama, Jane. Knock it off,_ she reprimands as she drops a lid back down on a crate, only coming across Omni-Gel they could use. _I always get too worked up when I get hungry._

She opens a pouch on her suit, digging around to pull out one of her protein bars from the ship. She looks down to it with a scowl, knowing the taste will be horrible and she won't have the sanctity of water to wash it down. She goes to tear into the packaging when a three fingered hand clasps around hers.

"Here," her husband rumbles as he hands a different bar over. "I hate to say it, but 'I told you so'."

She quirks a brow at him, eyeing the offered food with puzzlement. "Where the hell did that come from?"

He chuckles, pulling the nasty excuse for food from her hand and putting his own in its place. "The Citadel before we returned to the Normandy."

At that, she looks more closely at the energy bar and gasps, her eyes widening in shock and surprise. "This is a 'Chocolate Brownie Crunch Bar'." She looks up to his confused eyes. "You have to pay out the ass for these bastards. How the hell?"

Obviously understanding enough, he chuckles and nudges her hand in effort to get her to eat. "Back on Therum, you said the bars the Alliance offered were disgusting but that you didn't want to buy those of a better quality. When you were stocking up better rations for the ship, I saw a set and decided to take a guess that they'd be better than what you're forcing yourself to eat."

She takes a large bite, all but moaning at the sweet sensation of rich chocolate hitting her tongue. "But why spend the money?" she asks around a mouthful.

He flicks a warm smile, his chest rumbling. "You tend to overwork yourself on the field. If you won't listen when I tell you not to, you might as well eat something that's good when you have to replenish."

She can't help it as she jumps to her toes and plants a hard kiss on his mandible. "I love you… You're so sweet to me." She shoves another bite into her mouth and motions to the only door in the room left, hoping it'll lead them to their missing scientist. "Let's move, Vakarian, before I do something unbecoming of a superior officer."

Wrex joins them as they make their way further in. "All it takes is buying you food? Are you sure you aren't some kind of varren?"

Not even that can ruin her good mood, though, as she simply lets out one quick laugh before pulling her pistol off of her hip and waving Wrex forward. The Krogan, true to his professionalism, falls into place and scans the newly open hallway with his shotgun.

He steps back once their path leads only to a single unlocked door to their right, giving Jane the lead to approach the end of their raid on the mercenary base. Hopefully the answers they need, for the Alliance and her own personal quest, lie beyond this door. If not, she's certain she's going to need another chocolate to calm her likely ire.

The door's swish is echoed by a whirring of a gun as they enter the room to find a single armed man holding the assumed Dr. Wayne at gunpoint. Jane immediately drops her gun so that its sights are aimed to the floor and she knows her team follows suit, ready to open fire if need be.

"Stay back! I got no grief with you. All I want is this bastard!" That voice, that familiar voice makes Jane's lungs seize, a feeling of having the air sucked from them instantly making her breath stutter.

She doesn't even hear the pleas from the man at gunpoint, her mind zeroed in on reliving that horrid day. She knows this man, this ghost, and her hands tremble around their hold on her gun as the screams echo in her ears. She only snaps out of it when she hears the sobbing 'Mr. Toombs' from the cowering man's lips, her fist tightening their grip at the sound of anger and torment from her former squadmate's lips.

"Shut up!" Toombs tightens his hold on his gun, the muscles in his arms going rigid as he fights to not pull the trigger. "You don't get to lie. You don't…" His hand quivers from pent up emotions when he glances to Jane and her squad, finally taking an actual look to them. His eyes widen and his arm ceases its shaking, but doesn't drop. "Shepard?! Fucking shit… Shepard, is that you?"

If there was any question that this was all a figment of her broken and shattered mind, his acknowledgement shatters that hope. She drops her pistol to one hand, shock getting the better of her judgment. "Toombs?" _As if there's any question now from the look in his eyes._"You broke your leg… We couldn't carry you… I thought the Maw…" she stammers, her mind too confused and the painful memories of what she had done draining her strength, making her head pound.

She remembers Toombs, now. She saw him in every nightmare of that horrible day, screaming in pain and fear as she and the remaining marines left him to rot and feed the monsters in the hole he was unlucky enough to step in. They all told themselves they couldn't do anything, too tired from running and fighting to carry him, but seeing him now, was that just an excuse to not feel guilty?

A flash of sadness and pain crosses her old friend's face. "They found me, Shepard. The scientists. They did horrible things to me."

"You can't believe any of this!" Dr. Wayne scowls as Jane, his fear in Toombs quickly translating into anger and disgust at the idea of her believing him. "This man is delusional."

"They found me in that hole. I was almost dead, but they brought me to a lab." He completely ignores the scientist's protests, turning his attention to her and her squad. "They were running tests on the Thresher Maws. They _let_ those things attack us just so they could study them! Like we were playthings!"

He shoves the gun especially hard towards the other man and successfully pulls a startled jerk in response. "I woke up in a holding cell. They didn't care that I survived, not really. They were only happy because then they could run tests on me."

Jane blinks, her chest aching at the thought of somehow being partially responsible. "Toombs, if I had known…" She glares at the scientist. "If I had known you survived, I would have done anything I could to find you-"

"You can't believe this madman," Dr. Wayne interrupts, which does nothing to ease Jane's hectic thoughts. "He doesn't have proof…I demand a fair trial!"

Toombs takes a quick step forward and pistol whips the man, pulling a low amused rumble from Wrex and an anxious shift of armor from Garrus. "You fucking bastard! He was there! He knows the truth!" His free hand clenches, trying to hold back his anger and holding back from pulling the trigger. "They treated me like a fucking animal. This _Cerberus_, it was all some part of their plan. They didn't care who died on that shit hole, they just wanted test subjects."

His eyes blink rapidly, their surface wet with pained tears. "They do these fucked up experiments all the time. They tested Maw venom on me and laughed at my screams. I still feel the acid burning through my veins!" He sobs, his fight against his emotions failing. "This man deserves to die. Look at what they did to us! What they did to our squad!" Tears stream down his angered face. "Are you with me or against me?"

Thoughts rush through her head: Toombs surviving and being taken in to be tortured in some sick 'tests', the attacks being planned with no regard for lives lost, this one man being involved, and the knowledge that she may have been able to at least prevent some of her old friend's pain. Her fist tightens around her pistol as she makes up her mind, let the consequences be what they may for she has to end this here and now.

"Toombs, if you kill this man, you become a criminal." She raises her gun and points it directly between the doctor's eyes. "I'm a Spectre. No one will question me."

"You can't kill me. You don't know who-"

"Damn it, Shepard," Toombs screams. "This is my kill! You got out with just a few scratches and a _bad ass reputation_." Garrus growls lowly at the truth, but only Jane hears as Toombs shoves his free hand against his chest in aggravation. "I'm the one they tortured!"

"Don't you _dare_ claim to know what I went through on that fucking rock." Her angered gaze locks with his. "They can't charge me… You really want to be a fucking retard and throw the rest of your miserable life away while rotting in a jail cell? It's not that easy."

She pulls the trigger, the single shot echoing off the empty metal corridors of the base. The limp body falls to the floor, but despite the drained look on her former squadmate's face, she doesn't feel anything as she locks her pistol to her hip.

"It's…it's really over?" Toombs sways a bit, his hands moving to cup his temples. "Maybe now the screaming will stop… Maybe everyone will finally let me rest..."

_They don't unless you make them, Toombs._ "I can't offer you peace, Toombs. Only you can." He nods, at a loss for words. "The Fifth Fleet is in the system, but if you'd rather go with us, we can transfer you over from the Normandy."

Toombs looks to the scientist and shakes his head, his body still shaky from the sudden loss of anger and adrenaline. "No… This is all," he motions towards her and her squad, "it's really a lot to take in, you know? We went through something worse than hell on Akuze… I just…I don't think I can deal with being around you, you know?"

As strange as that seems, she does understand and nods, moving off to radio Joker with her command. The two of them thought they'd never see the other, she because she thought he was dead and he probably because he'd never see her in person from her new standing in the public. To suddenly have reality rush in like a freight train was just as exhausting as physically fighting a pack of raging Krogan.

She knows she won't be able to offer this broken man a way to cope through the pain. She is ashamed to admit that can't be Toombs' pillar of emotional and mental strength because she needs it herself. As much as she hates to go against her every confidence that she's overcome her pain from Akuze, she needs a break, a chance to put down her Commander mask.

She gets a response of a ship arriving within a few moments and turns to Toombs. "I don't know if I can really help you, but here's my Omni address." She sends it over and his arm lights up with the received information. "I can offer an ear if you need it." She drops her head with a defeated huff. "I don't have anything more to say, Toombs, besides that I'm sorry for everything that happened back on that planet."

"It's alright, Shepard." His voice is soft as he moves to take a seat to wait for his captors. "We all were fighting to survive… I would've left me too." He huffs a self-depreciating laugh. "I guess we were all monsters…"

Jane doesn't have an answer to that, instead only giving him a sad quirk of her lips and drawn down brows. She gives him the contact codes for the Alliance ship and lets him pull her into a strong hug before leaving him to his fate.

Hopefully, she can recommend the Alliance not charge him for the murders and instead move to help ease his torment. He doesn't need prison as it's obvious from the look and sound of him that he really needs someone to help him ease his guilt and mental anguish.

Garrus and Wrex thankfully stay mostly quiet on their trip back to the Mako and launch to reconnect with her ship. She's grateful for the two, knowing that what went on down on the surface was awkward for all of them and knows that they can both clearly see her changed expression.

When the tank is secured in its position in the bay, Jane calls out to Joker to set course for Noveria, not letting this side trip slow them down any more than it already has. Wrex is the first to exit the Mako, obviously not too comfortable with the sick tension wafting off of her and not wanting to stay in it any longer than he has to. She doesn't blame him –hell, she wants out of it too, but, unfortunately, can't be so lucky.

She moves to stand when a warm hand covers her own, stopping her. She looks up to the beautiful crystal blues of her love and smiles weakly, her earlier anger completely transformed into pain and sorrow during their return.

"Jane," he rumbles, crouching down beside her chair and hitting a switch on the console. The tank's hatch shuts, casting the compartment into a dim red environment that actually eases some of the pain in her head.

He cups his large hands around her cheeks, nearly engulfing her smaller face, and pulls her softly to his head. He presses his forehead to hers and she feels the vibrations of his low thrumming through his touch.

She can't fight it and sobs once, a harsh pull of air into her lungs that hurts like she's been underwater for too long. He doesn't speak, only pulling her down and into his lap as he softly purrs and thrums in comfort, letting his subharmonics seep from his plates and into her tired and aching body.

"How could I have been so blind?" she whispers into the hide of his neck.

He rumbles, the sound almost like a reprimand. "No one could have known." He pulls her chin up and kisses her, swallowing her tearless, hitching breaths. He strokes his hands in the fallen strands of hair. "You can't blame yourself for what happened."

"And why not?" She frowns at him, her mind screaming at her all the things she should have done back on Akuze.

He cups her chin and presses his face to hers, bringing his forehead to hers, his nose plates to press against her nose, and letting their breaths fan across each other. "Did he ever say you were at fault?" He waits and she shakes her head softly. "Did he not say that he understood?" He waits again for her weak nod. "Did he also not say that he would have done the same?"

She can't take it, she drops her head into her hands but quickly feels his gentle, but insistent, hold pulling them away with a low thrum. "Jane, you cannot torture yourself for the things you cannot change." He presses to her head and hums low before reciting, "'Though my comrades in arms have fallen, I will not break in guilt, for to fall beneath such regret is not to honor the deeds for which they have sacrificed'."

His fingers stroke around their hold on her wrists as she tries to see through his eyes. She knows she shouldn't be doing this, shouldn't feel tormented by what she wasn't really at blame for, but it's hard to fight. She will try, though, because it's what he deserves-what she, too, deserves- after all the pain her nightmares caused.

She lifts her hands to touch his face, his grip loosening, then releasing, with a pleased rumble as she runs her fingers softly along his long mandibles. She swallows thickly before trying to speak. "I never took you for someone to recite inspirational quotes."

The jab is weak and her voice soft, but he must understand her attempt because he rumbled good-naturedly, rubbing his nose plates against the tip of her nose. "I usually don't, but I figured you could use some advice from an old Turian philosopher."

She smiles, not completely at ease but slowly finding the strength in his arms. She shifts closer to his body, silently thanking him for knowing exactly what she wants by wrapping his arms around her body and pulling her to his body. The position is uncomfortable with both of their armors in the way, but the thought of their closeness means more to her weakened mind than the burden of thunking ceramic.

"I don't want to have to go out and play Commander anymore," she softly whispers after a long span of silence.

He hums, dropping his muzzle into her battle messy hair. "I know. I'd rather we not have to go out there and play C-Sec and Commander, either." He huffs a weak laugh. "Technically, we _are_ a C-Sec Officer and Commander, so we shouldn't have to pretend."

She huffs, some of his mirth starting to lighten her mood enough to see reason and understand that they can't stay in the darkened Mako all night. "You're such a jerk." She pulls her head from his chest and lays a soft kiss on his lips. "But I love you."

"I love you too, Jane," he rumbles, his voice thick with sadness as he obviously sees where her thoughts have already led her. He lets her shift away, only running a loving hand through her hair before she pulls herself to her feet.

"I hope we at least get some time to cool off before Noveria." She offers him a hand up from the floor. "I know I'm tired, but I'd also like to check in with Chakwas and see when I can start back up with my shotgun."

"That reminds me. What's a 'boom stick'?"

She chuckles and pats his armored shoulder. "That, my friend, is just a name for my shotgun." She takes a deep breath, her fist hovering over the latch of the Mako. "Thank you, for everything." She frowns, her eyes dropping before quickly rising up to his with a soft smile that doesn't feel so forced. "I know I'm not completely okay with everything that happened, but I think it helped."

He steps to her and caresses a single finger along her jaw. "You never have to thank me for doing what's best for you. I will always be here when you need me. Whether you know you do or not." She sees his warm flick of mandibles that helps to brighten her smile as she can't help but mirror him.

He steps back from her and she finally opens the tank, thankful to see that Williams is not on the floor to see the two exit the tank. She looks to him over her shoulder as she hops down. "Get some rest while we're in transit and try to see if Clark can set your armor up with some heating coils." She starts to head to the elevator, but stops with a new idea and turns back, yelling across the span she's covered. "Get Tali to see if she can mod your suit. We don't want you freezing to death or else I won't have a sniper anymore."

She chuckles at the motion of his shaking head, leaving before he can come up with an appropriate remark. It's for the best, anyway, as he's going to be well and truly busy with touching up whatever problems her driving did and preparing his gear for their arrival on Noveria.

She too, has some things to get done, but most of all, including filing a follow-up report of what just happened on Ontarom, a quick cleaning of her pistol, a damage check on her armor for any weak spots from their battle, and to update Liara and supply her with appropriate gear. Most of all, though, Jane can't wait to call in on Doctor Chakwas to beg to get approval to use her shotgun. One mission without her 'boom stick' was long enough.


	22. Chapter 21

-Jane-

"Watch yourself, Commander. They're a _real_ cheerful bunch." The pilot's voice echoes through the decontaminating air lock. "I think I'm going to put in request to take my next leave here."

Jane shakes her head while Liara frowns, still not used to Joker's sense of humor. Jane can't see her husband's reaction as he clamps his dark helmet on, the only defense for his face against the planet's cold chill.

When the air lock doors finally slide open, the freezing air hits her like a solid wall of ice. "Holy shit balls," she yells and clamps her arms across her chest despite the fact that it won't help to contain the heat past her armor. "That's fucking freezing!"

Liara nods emphatically while Garrus simply huffs his shoulders, a rumble very reminiscent of 'I told you so' coming over their comms. Jane motions forward with a quick jerk and all but runs down the dock. _Why in the world would they have these paths out in the cold? Are they idiots as well as assholes?_

Just before she and her team are able to make it into the warm interior of the port, a group of security officers block their path, weapons at the ready. "That's far enough," the center officer demands, a hand raised to both her own officers to hold fire and Jane's squad to halt. "This is an unscheduled arrival. I need your credentials."

_We just gave you our damn credentials before we docked so you wouldn't blow us out of the damn sky._ Jane's brows draw down and she fights her stance not to shift back in defiance. "My pilot already transferred my Spectre stats to your communications command. Don't tell me you people don't know how to make a simple call."

The only other human officer, a blonde woman to the right, scowls and interrupts who Jane assumed is her commander. "Show some damn respect. We're the law here." Jane raises a brow, unimpressed, and she hears the light huff through her comm of Garrus sharing her sentiment.

The center woman, a slender officer who stands calm with her hands at her back, turns to Jane and her crew. "I'm Captain Maeko Matsuo," she introduces, "Elanus Risk Control Services. Seeing as how you are here and we haven't received confirmation from communications, I will ask again for your credentials."

_Security firm, huh? What a great way to control what is and is not allowed on this port. Seems like the rumors of this place having little law but that of the credit chit might be true._ Figuring that it's not worth it to point out that this process is illogical, Jane crosses her arms and locks gazes with the Captain's almond shaped eyes. "Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy and Council Spectre."

"That sounds like a load of bullshit, ma'am," the still unnamed blond says to the Captain and Jane rolls her eyes subtly.

Matsuo nods to her subordinate before returning to the visiting party. "We will need to confirm that, Commander. For now, however, I must confiscate your firearms should you choose to wait within the port's waiting area. No one but Elanus Risk Control Services employees are permitted weapons on Noveria." She quickly turns to her officer and Jane's figures twitch, knowing what the Captain will try next. "Sergeant Sterling, secure their weapons."

The blonde, who Jane now knows is named Sterling, takes a step forward and Jane hears the arming of Garrus' rifle and feels the low buzz of Liara's biotics flaring to live as she aims her own pistol. Sterling and the Turian officer that's been quiet and still up until now aim at her team.

She sets her sights directly between the Captain's eyes. "Let's say we test your employee benefits. You think Elanus offers life insurance?" She directs the second statement to her squad and hears the low rumble of amusement in their comm.

The Captain calmly looks over the three armed soldiers and her brows drop. "We are authorized to use lethal force, Commander. You have to the count of three to surrender your weapons."

"We won't need that long-"

"Captain Matsuo! Stand down." A feminine voice over the intercom interrupts Jane, drawing all eyes upward to the speakers. The Captain drops her head, obviously required to listen to the faceless voice's command. "We confirmed their identity. Spectres are authorized to carry firearms while visiting Noveria, Captain."

The other two officers lower their weapons, an expression of relief on the nameless Turian and one of frustration on the Sergeant. Matsuo seems to have let the entire confrontation slide past her and she relaxes her stance. "You may proceed, Spectre. I have hopes that the rest of your visit will prove to be more pleasant." She motioned to the large glass doors to the left of their meeting as Jane and her team lower their offensive stances, holstering their weapons. "Parasini-san will meet you upstairs."

"Behave yourself," Sterling adds, making Jane roll her eyes as the group of security officers disperse. _Have to have the last say? What is this, kindergarten?_

Jane motions her teams towards the revolving glass doors, taking note of the hovering sentry turrets and looking over her shoulder to see Garrus doing the same before nodding in silent understanding. _Heavily armed… going to be a pain in the ass if things go ass-end up._

Hopefully that won't be a problem as they approach what looks like a check-in desk of the port, the light hiss of Garrus' helmet depressurizing as he removes it sounding as her team walk through the shifting sensors. A loud alarm sounds but a tall woman in a long red dress steps forward and speaks loudly above the din.

"Weapon detectors." She waves her Omni-Tool and the sound abruptly cuts off. "Don't mind the alarms." She steps around the desk and smooths out a nonexistent wrinkle on the front of her dress before looking up to Jane with a plastered-on smile. "I am Gianna Parasini, assistant to Administrator Anoleis. We do apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced in the docking bay."

Jane quirks a brow. "You're Chief of Security always that quick to try and take on an armed squad with nothing more than a stern stare?" She definitely has to admit the woman had balls to expect her two subordinates to take on all three of her squad without trying to raise her own weapon. _Stupid balls that wouldn't have saved her from a bullet, but balls all the same._

"She takes her job seriously and is a valuable asset to the company. The Executive Board does everything in its power to protect the privacy of all our client corporations." Jane's brow raises subtly in suspicion. _I doubt that 'privacy' is just to keep competitors from stealing ideas._

The woman must be able to read Jane's doubt in her expression because she smiles that fake smile again, the expression making Jane's skin crawl in revulsion for this entire place. "This planet is beyond the jurisdiction of the Citadel, I assure you. The law is whatever the Executive Board says it is. They believe that discovery should not be limited by ethics laws or morality concerns." Her brows lower. "Can you imagine all the scientific, medical, and technological breakthroughs that would have never came to be if those pioneers were limited in such a way?"

Though she knows this woman's argument isn't completely false but still absolutely insane to justify a place that seems to have no qualms like this, she doesn't really have the time, or patience, to add anything. Instead she looks to the entrance that leads further into the port. "Has anyone unusual passed through here recently?"

Finally, the mirage of pleasantness drops and the woman frowns in confusion. "Unusual? Matriarch Benezia passed through a few days ago-"

"Benezia?" Jane has to hide her smirk at her Asari companion interrupting the pampered assistant. "She is really here?"

Deciding that Liara's shock isn't going to help get their objective across to this woman, Jane steps closer to Gianna. "Benezia is a criminal and threat to galactic peace. Tell me where she is and your 'Executive Board' can do whatever illegal shit it wants. I'm bringing her in or taking her out."

Parasini's frown shifts from one of confusion to stern disapproval. "The Executive Board doesn't appreciate outside issues being brought to Noveria, Commander."

"That's not my problem or my responsibility." Jane shrugs lightly. "Maybe if you people actually looked at the news or read an extranet article or two, you'd know about Benezia and not let her in the damn port to begin with."

The woman simple shakes her head and huffs in dismissal, clearly not moved. "In any case, Benezia left for Peak 15 a few days ago. To the best of my knowledge, she is still located at the research complex."

_Then what's the big deal?_ "Then give us the directions and we'll be in and out before your Executive Board can get their panties up their ass."

"You would need to speak with Administrator Anoleis. He is the only one to approve of clearance for you and your team to leave Port Hanshan." She points towards the glass elevator further on. "You will find him in his office on the main level."

Jane's brows drop in frustration. "You going to let us in or are you just telling us this just before kicking us out?" _Why does everything have to be so literal with some people?_

"Of course," the assistant says with her signature pull of her glossy lips that Jane can't wait to get away from. "If you need any more assistance, my office is directly outside of the administrator's."

She leaves as Jane sighs in exasperation. It's starting to feel like this mission isn't going to be a simple in-and-out or search-and-destroy, if what they've already encountered is anything to go by. _Why does every mission always need me to jump through hoops?_

"I can't believe my mother could really be here." Liara's soft and distressed voice rings out, stopping Jane before they reach the inner elevator doors. Jane turns to the woman, seeing her confused and searching eyes. "I imagine you would like to talk to me about this, Shepard."

_Not really, but you obviously do._ She doesn't feel like she has to question the Asari, but perhaps this is more for the girl and not herself. "This is something different than shooting Geth or Krogan mercs, Liara. I can understand if you'd rather stay on the Normandy…" The woman shakes her head with a stern look of determination. "Then I still think you'll know what to do when the time comes."

Garrus' mandible flicks in agitation at that, but, thankfully, Liara has her back to him and doesn't see it. Instead, the woman nods and looks forward to the elevator, a silent acknowledgment that they can move on. "I still believe her actions are wrong, Shepard. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to see this through."

Jane simply nods and steps into the lift, waiting to press the appropriate buttons once her team enters and takes position at her back. The lift is just as slow as the ones on the Citadel, so she turns to her husband and motions to his helmet locked to his thigh. "I didn't ask if you were going to manage, Vakarian. How are Tali's adjustments doing?"

"Better than I expected but still not much against the blizzard outside." His plates shift slightly in a soft shiver that she's sure only the two of them notice. "Did I tell you Turians don't like the cold? We've never even seen snow on Palaven before."

Jane smirks as the doors slide open. "You can always go back to the ship and send Wrex out in your place. I bet he wouldn't complain about the weather if it gave him a chance to gloat over you."

Liara smiles softly, her jumbled thoughts of her mother easing slightly at the jab. "I believe he would rather freeze out in the snow than admit he was cold."

Jane looks over her shoulder at her husband with a raised brow in a 'see? She agrees' look. Garrus growls jokingly and waves off the offer. "No thanks. I don't think I could stand that insufferable Krogan after that. I'd be better off becoming a –what was it called- Turian popsicle?"

Liara huffs a soft laugh as Jane smiles to him, a silent acknowledgement between the two of their efforts to try and take the Asari's mind from the seemingly inevitable outcome of their eventual encounter with her mother. It isn't as if Jane is going to go in expecting to kill the woman outright, but with the way things are going, it might end up being their only option.

Jane leads the team to a large office along the far wall of the main lobby of the port, assuming the place with the most obvious location away from, and still overlooking, the rest of the area must belong to the administrator. They enter to find another lobby before finally entering a smaller office that sits a desk before yet another door.

It's all a useless and redundant waste of space, but Jane knows it's some stupid mind game to show importance. She can't wait to get out of this damn place with its facades of civility and pomp. This place is worse than the Citadel, with its corporations and Executive Board and rules that cater to their overall greed.

The small desk is unoccupied and unassuming, so she assumes it belongs to the assistant from downstairs, wherever she may be now, and takes to what she hopes is the last door separating her from the Administrator.

"Oh, Commander Shepard." The team turns to the door they just entered to see Parasini walk briskly in and move towards the desk in the room. "Is there anything I can help you with? Would you like to request an audience with Mr. Anoleis?"

"Yes. That _would_ be the only reason I'd be here considering he _is_ the only way I can get to Peak 15." Jane sighs in frustration. _Why can't I just shoot things? Who would have thought that I'd find something worse than talking to the Council in talking to corporate assholes?_

The woman nods, not caring to comment on Jane's attitude it seems. "One moment, please." She taps the interface on her desk, calling up an intercom. "Mr. Anoleis?"

"Yes?" a distinctly Salarian tone sighs out in upset. "What? I'm quite busy."

"Commander Shepard is requesting to speak with you, sir," she says, her cheer still seeming deprecatory even to her supposed boss.

"Yes, yes. Fine. Come in," the voice of the Administrator snaps. Gianna nods and motions towards the closed glass doors with a fluid hand and turn of her glossy lips.

Preparing for what she knows will most likely be one of the rudest people on this planet, yet, Jane waves her team to follow, taking a deep breath to force herself to enter with as calm of a mind as she can muster. The rounded double doors swing open with a softened switch, cold air wafting past as their speed, and Jane sees the Administrator typing furiously on a computer before him, his brows drawn down in either concentration or frustration.

"You will excuse me if I don't stand up," he calls out without looking up from his work. "I have no time to entertain refugees from that urban blight called Earth-"

Jane scowls and interrupts. "Funny thing about Earth and humans, we tend to take offense against our homeworld. Especially from someone whose planet made then soft and squishy frogs."

Anoleis waves off the insult. "My homeworld is clean, poverty is non-existent." _Probably because none of you live long enough…_ "If you take some perverse pride in that overheated, acid-washed slum, that is your business." Jane exhales deeply, fighting the urge to bring her fists into this conversation.

He finally looks up to Jane, his black eyes unimpressed by her armored and fully armed team. "This greeting is a courtesy. I will only cooperate as required by the Executive Board." He looks out the windows of the office and out into the flurry of white. "Businesses come here to avoid second-guessing of galactic law that may interfere with progress."

Jane crosses her arms, not impressed by his attempt at insinuation and suspicious of the extent of his 'cooperation.' "Let me guess, this little spiel is all to let me know that you think of me as this 'second-guessing of galactic law'?"

He leers, one side of his squared mouth rising. "Just so we have an understanding, Commander. Take head, I will not allow you to harass our clients while you are here." His eyes narrow. "I may be advised to cooperate, but this world is private property."

Jane rolls her eyes, not caring to keep up the façade of pleasantries if Anoleis clearly won't. "Then tell me about Matriarch Benezia. I was told she came here and I need to get to her."

The man sits back in his chair, laying his clasped hands in his lap. "That's correct. She did arrive here a few days ago, accompanied by a personal escort of Asari commandos and transporting some cargo to Peak 15. She was acting as Agent Saren's executor. Saren is a major shareholder in Binary Helix and she is authorized to act on his behalf."

He smirks at her team and narrows his large black eyes. "Unfortunately for you, that means her visit to Peak 15 is of Binary Helix's authority and I do not have any more information on the matter, nor would I offer it to you any ways."

Jane rubs between her brows, messaging the headache building at this pompous asshole's attitude and this whole world's idiotic practices. She scowls up to the Administrator. "Let me get this straight. You don't permit firearms on Noveria, but you let Benezia waltz right in with a whole platoon of commandos?"

He waves a flippant hand. "They followed all our regulations. I had no reason to forbid Lady Benezia from taking them." He tilts his head towards Jane. "Or do you expect us to forbid the use of natural biotics to our visitors."

"You could have still used dampeners," Garrus interjects at her back. "Or is that one 'galactic law' you actually do abide by?" Jane's never heard of biotic dampeners, but from where he's going with it, she assumes it's because they're either highly illegal or against the rights of biotic users, possibly both. She'll have to look them up one day out of curiosity.

She nods in agreement, but the director waves the protest off against, clearly not bothered by Garrus' observation. She hears a low growl of agitation, a sign he's just as fed up with this pretentious man as she is, and quickly speaks to cover the sound. "Enough pussy footing around. I need to see Benezia immediately."

Anoleis hums with a smile. "I'm afraid you cannot. Your presence is only allowed here in the port as a courtesy and Peak 15 is a private facility in the Skadi Mountains." He waves a hand out to the window as if Jane was blind to the weather. "Even if I was inept enough to allow you to leave, there is a blizzard in the area. All shuttles are grounded and surface access has been completely cut off." He pulls himself towards his desk again. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I've have already wasted enough of my, and the company's, time answering your insipid questions."

Clearly not going to address or acknowledge her squad, Jane turns with a heavy breath of defeat and takes her leave. When she passes by Anoleis' assistant, however, she hears a soft and secretive whisper.

"Mr. Anoleis isn't the only one with a pass to leave Hanshan." Jane turns to Parasini with a raised brow, interested in the comment, and sees the woman typing upon her terminal, feigning obliviousness.

She approaches the woman's desk, drawing her attention and the first sign of true emotion on the dark skinned woman's face in the form of a conspiring twist of her shiny lips. "You've obviously never worked in the corporate world, have you, Commander? You can't bludgeon through bureaucracy."

Jane leans her hands and weight against the woman's desk. "Yeah, must have missed out that training." She looks off in mock thought. "I wonder if that was the day I was stuck in the infirmary. Damn, what will I ever do?"

Gianna smirks and looks over her shoulder to her boss' office before leaning closer to Jane while lowering her voice. "Talk to Lorik Qui'in. You should be able to find him at the hotel bar. I can't say more, not with," she motions to the door at her back and Jane nods in understanding before pushing off of her desk.

~SquigglySquid says: I apologize I've been a bit slow lately. I haven't run out of ideas or steam, but I've just been juggling this with making Christmas gifts for family and friends. Once I complete that, though, I shall be back up to my normal updating pace. :)


	23. Chapter 22

-Garrus-

"You know…when I was told to look for this Lorik Qui'in guy, I had even thought to ask what he looked like." Jane squints her eyes and scans the patrons of the bar. She smirks and looks back to him and the Asari at his left. "Guess we're going in blind and asking every Turian in this room if they're him." She snorts. "What a great way to introduce ourselves, 'hello, are you Lorik Qui'in?'" she lifts her voice in a mock impression of herself, "'No? Well, darn. Looks like I can't tell one Turian from another!'"

Liara shakes her head and looks to her feet, her cheeks darkening a shade. "Goddess, Shepard. Please don't do that."

Jane doesn't take notice and turns to Garrus. He tries to hold in his amused mandible twitch as she thrusts her hand out. "Hello, sir… Would you happen to be Lorik Qui'in?" Her lip twitches in enjoyment at the high huff from their team mate.

He smirks, catching on to Jane's teasing of the young woman. He knows his wife has caught on to T'Soni's anxiety about their possibly negative encounter with her mother soon and knows that, in her own way, she's trying to cheer her up.

In order to help her along, he rumbles softly in mock insult. "Commander. I'm Garrus Vakarian, the C-Sec officer you brought along to hunt for Saren." He pretends to be trying to give her information she seems to have forgotten and holds in his laughter at her mock confusion. "I've been on every ground mission since I joined?" She doesn't respond, the subtle tensing of her facial muscles as she fights the laughter the only sign she understands, and he continues. "You can't possibly say we all look the same!" He throws his hands up in defeat and that does his mate in, her jovial snicker sneaking through her lips.

Liara's eyes widen at the realization of what just happened. "Oh! You were both playing." She shakes her head with a soft pout of her bottom lip. "Goddess, I am so dense…"

Jane pats her companion on the back. "Nah, don't worry about it." She leans closer but doesn't hide her conspiring tone. "By the way, I do think they all look the same. If it wasn't for his visor, I wouldn't know it was him."

Liara sputters and he and his wife laugh, the woman's flustered face priceless after all the stress of their arrival and finding out about their limitations on the port. He can tell Jane is just as upset, if not more, from the obvious dislike of the people here and their all-but-complete refusal to assist in their task.

He's never liked the thought of places like this and, as much as it makes him sound like his father, he hates the fact that they can pretty much do whatever they please and get away with it. Who knows how many laws are broken and never brought to justice simply because of the cost of silence? Money and greed has corrupted this place, rid it of respect and proper responsibility, and the sooner they find Liara's mother and stop her, the better.

Jane calms herself and smiles warmly at the doctor. "Sorry, Liara. It's like a disease or something, I just can't stop myself." She pats the woman on the back and pulls out a soft smile on understanding from her blue lips. "Now," she looks back towards the bar patrons, "since this guy is supposed to be able to offer us a pass out of this hell hole, I'd say he's got to be pretty important."

She narrows her eyes and focuses on a single man in a dark black and blue suit sitting at a table beside the large windows. "Important enough to wear a spiffy suit and drink the day away? I'd say so…" She walks towards her target and Garrus shakes his head, a twitch of mandible his only response to her attitude so reminiscent of her battlefield tactics: find who looks the most important and take them head on.

When they approach the table, the older male with stark white markings looks up to them, an intrigued quirk of one brow plate flashing above his face before quickly disappearing. "Afternoon. Sit down," he motions to the free seats at his table, "have a drink. What can I do for you?" His tone is pleasant enough, legitimately welcoming of what seems to be company to his table. A unique change from the usual they've been getting, but not enough to completely let Garrus feel at ease. Especially when considering the fact that they _are_ still on this damnable planet of corruption.

Jane, however, smirks and he knows immediately that she, too, has caught the change from the usual greeting they've been receiving. She may not be able to always hear harmonics, but she has gotten pretty good at reading subtext and she most likely caught his quick curiosity.

"I'm looking for a man by the name of Lorik Qui'in. Word is he may be able to help me." She mock huffs in disappointment and looks around the bar. "Shame is that I don't have a clue where to find him or what he may look like."

He flicks an amused mandible and nods to the chairs before him and Jane shrugs before taking his offer. When they are all seated, he lowly rumbles in approval, causing Garrus to tilt his head in confusion. Normally, Turians keep their vocals pretty quiet to maintain the solid front and especially make sure to do it when around other Turians who may be able to use that knowledge, but this man seems to not really care what is heard.

"You are the Spectre that just arrived, are you not? What could an old Turian like me possibly help you with?" He takes a sip of his drink, one brow quirking at Jane's lighthearted shrug.

"Spectre? Me?" She holds a hand to her chest. "Why, haven't you heard that there are no human Spectres?"

A low rumble echoes from his chest and his dark mandible flicks out in a smirk. "No need for cover-ups, Commander. A picture has been passed through every employee on this Port. They have been warned that speaking to you is grounds for termination."

She snorts and nods to the drink in his hand. "And yet, you offer me a seat and to buy me drinks…"

He chuckles and nods softly. "Indeed. Lorik Qui'in. I am the manager of the Synthetic Insights office." His expression drops subtly. "For the moment, at least."

Jane frowns, obviously picking up on the hints of his shift from the time she has spent alone with Garrus. Typically, the lower bass notes of disappointment and slight distress wouldn't be picked up on, but he knows she's caught on since their marriage. "I like your office, comes with a bar and included patrons."

Her jab pulls a low rumble and flick of mandible. "Actually, I would only wish my loitering here would be mere indolence." He rubs a forefinger over the rim of his glass. "Mr. Anoleis has thought it fit to close my office. He claims to be investigating reports of my corruption." A look of exasperated disgust crosses his plated features.

"I sense a 'but' somewhere in your frustrations," she says with a raised brow.

"How very perceptive of you, Commander." He flashes a quick look across the table to Garrus, locking clear blues eyes with his own dark olive. Garrus rumbles a low, quick warning for the man not to push the issue that he knows Liara and Jane can't hear. Qui'in simply smirks before returning his attentions to Jane's dismissive shrug of his comment. Odds are she caught the quick exchange and she knows the older Turian has seen through their ruse.

Honestly, Garrus is surprised he's kept their 'secret' this long when he most likely smelled them on each other the moment they walked up. It's pretty difficult to hide the subtle scent of contact on two species who supposedly hate each other, let alone get close enough to touch bare skin to plate and hide.

_And we didn't even have the sex to make this whole thing less embarrassing,_ he thinks, remembering back to the soft caress against his neck she gave him in Normandy's elevator when they were alone.

Liara, thank her Goddess, chimes in, pulling Garrus out of his inner nerves. "The Commander spends a lot of her time speaking with each of her crew members. She's always able to pick up on the little differences each of us use when we talk." She smiles over to Jane, her eyes shining with a sense of pride. "It's what makes her a great person to talk to."

"Of course." A subharmonic rumble echoes with a soft smirk before he turns to Jane, he wordlessly taking note of the interesting development between his visitors, and Garrus has to hold his tongue. "The Administrator is an interesting man." He begins, finally. "He has become quite wealthy since he took direct control of rents from the local companies here on Noveria."

Understanding his cue, Jane crosses her arms and relaxes in her chair. "What a great way to show initiative. And who will know if a little gets _mistakenly misplaced_ into his pockets."

_Great, just what was expected. Have a place with no laws and someone finds a way to screw up the system to fit their needs._ Garrus hates to accept it, but this is one place he's starting to see eye-to-eye with his father on. A place like this needs a strict set of rules or there's complete chaos and anarchy.

"Indeed." His smirk is still visible around the drink he takes from his glass. "I'm quite impressed to see I'm not the only one who believed the man's actions to be suspicious. I acquired evidence of Anoleis' actions and traces of his demands for kickbacks." He exhales heavily, a look of exasperation crossing his features. "His hired goons are ransacking my office to find it."

He looks out of the large windows and into the constant white of the storm outside. "Though I do enjoy your entertaining company, I suspect your reason to be here lies outside this port, but Mr. Anoleis would be disinclined to let you wander about without being able to get an eye on you."

Lorik leans forward and rests a forearm along the table's edge. "If you manage to recover the evidence from my office, I will give you my garage pass, as well as a sum of credits. I obviously have no need for it and Anoleis has no reason to cancel my clearance as there's nothing out there but snow and hungry nathak."

Jane's brows twitch in confusion, but she shakes her head. "Never mind, I'm not asking…" She looks up to the older Turian with an excited expression lighting her eyes. "You saying I get to see the inside of a fancy office, get a pass out of here, _and_ credits? I do believe you have yourself a deal."

A soft chuckle rumbles in his throat. "Oh, before I forget. There is one other – what is that charming human expression? 'Fly in the lotion'?" Jane snorts and nods in understanding, pulling a pleased flick of mandible. "Violence against Mr. Anoleis' thugs may become necessary. He has members of Port Hanshan's security forces searching my offices and making a complete mess. Fortunately for you, he has been paying these officers under the table and Ms. Matsuo is unaware of their outside employment." He tilts his head in silent amusement. "I don't know if you know this, but she is not too keen on the thought of her officers becoming corrupted by freelancing on the side."

Jane's face shifts down in the first scowl since the team arrived in the bar and Garrus can't help but respond in kind. It's abhorrent to think that the one group of people who are supposed to represent whatever screwed up sense of law this place has is just as corrupt as those they are supposed to take down.

"If Anoleis is paying them under the table, then they aren't freelancers, they're mercenaries." The Turian lifts a brow in interest. "I got no beef with killing mercs."

The dark plated man laughs deeply and slides a pass card across the table. "Excellent. Here is my pass into our offices. It will activate the elevator." He fetches a small electronic device from his suit pocket and hands it to Jane as she leans in to pick up the pass. "The evidence is on my office computer. This OSD contains the encryption key to access it, just slide it into the drive and it will auto-execute."

Jane spins the little device in her fingers and smirks. "Wow, in and out? Just like every other guy I've met."

Liara's eyes widen in shock, before she quickly adjusts, and Garrus rolls his own eyes, deciding not to address the full chested chuckle of amusement from the SI manager. In a way, Garrus would rather she flirt with someone like this Turian, where he knows he can catch any responding signs of interest – which there thankfully aren't - than the other species on the ship he doesn't have much experience in reading.

_Why am I even admitting that I'd rather she flirt with anyone? This cold must be getting to me,_ he sighs in exasperation as Jane stands up, he and Liara moving to follow. He knows that, in her own strange way, her banter is her way of conversation and, though many may not understand, she means absolutely nothing by it.

Luckily, the spread mandibles of the older Turian show his understanding of her strange quirk as he leans forward with one final piece of advice. "And do try to keep the blood stains off the carpets, would you?"

"No promises," Jane calls over her shoulder as they make their way back to the elevator down to the main lobby. She slams a finger hard onto the control for the main floor once the doors slide shut, a deep frown pulling her brows over her emerald eyes. "Damn it. 'Shepard, run here. Shepard, run there. Shepard, scratch my back. Shepard, Shepard, Shepard.' Have I told you two how much I hate this place?"

He chuckles and Liara smiles knowingly. "You seem to think the hotel bar was nice."

"Hah." Jane mock glares at the Asari. "We get in an elevator and T'Soni, the Comedian, makes an appearance?" She smirks. "Got all your sputtering out of the way or do you only get squeamish when I talk about my sex life or my blatant racism?"

T'Soni mock pouts, but can't hold it past her soft smile before she looks down in embarrassment. Garrus shakes his head at the woman, though has to congratulate her for getting better at not reacting to his mate's prodding. _If only she knew that Jane only gets worse the more you react._

"And you, Vakarian." Jane turns her mock glare on him and he tightens his mandibles in mock consternation at her scolding tone. "How come I have to come all the way out here to bum-fuck nowhere to meet a friendly Turian?"

He smirks as Liara scoffs. "How was I supposed to know you'd rather meet an unconventional member of my species? Normally we don't like to flaunt our society's outcasts to the public."

She snorts at his attempt of aversion to Lorik and the way he falls outside of the stoic norm of his people. She smirks and turns to the opening doors of the elevator as it reaches their floor. "Who knew I was such a sucker for 'bad Turians'?" she asks softly over her shoulder, low enough for only him to hear his own words from long ago over the sounds of their heavy footsteps against the tiled floor.

She takes them to the large elevator that takes them up numerous floors to the Synthetic Insights offices. As they sit within the slow lift, he hears Jane softly hum and tap her fingers against her ceramic armor.

"What is that you're humming, Shepard," Liara asks, a look of confusion in her eyes over the odd rhythm of the beat.

With a smirk, Jane throws her arms open, closing her eyes with her head back, and yells on the top of her lungs, continuing where her humming left off. "I'll take those long nights, impossible odds. Keepin' my eye to the keyhole." She spins and points a finger at Liara, making the woman jerk back, but continues, unfazed. "If it takes all night to just what I am, I'm gonna be a blue collar," she points to Garrus and he snorts at her as she then brings her balled fists before her chest, "Got to be a blue collar – Gonna be a blue collar man!"

She throws her hands to the ceiling and belts on the top of her lungs, holding the last note before breaking down in laughter at the expression of Liara's stunned face. Garrus chuckles and shakes his head at her exuberate bow in the small area of the elevator.

"I had no idea you could sing, Shepard."

Jane shrugs. "One of my many talents," she says with a sly smirk and mock inspection of her nails, the actual fact that she's wearing gloves defeating her attempt at mock-bragging. "Along with driving and arm wrestling Elcor."

Liara blinks as she takes that in, obviously understanding Jane is completely full of shit – to use her own words. Suddenly, her brows draw down in confusion. "What's a 'blue collar man'?"

The lifts starts to slow and they take their positions as his wife calls over her shoulder, "it is an old human term for a working class person. They tend to get the most demanding jobs for little pay. You know, manual labor that most don't want to soil their hands with." She shoots the two of them a quick smirk. "Like us. Now, come on."

Her stance shifts to one of caution and they seamlessly follow, ready to pull a gun if called for. They move up to a set of doors that swing open to reveal a pair of officers that immediately hear their arrival and move to stop them, one pulling out his weapon while the other holds up a hand in a halt. "Freeze! Hanshan security," the female human in the front calls out, her voice slightly muffled by the helmet across her chin. "This office is sealed." The woman seems agitated by the team not reacting to her command and switches tactics. "You're the Spectre, right? Lorik Qui'in is under investigation."

He hears a low hum from Jane as she strokes a knuckle against her chin, unimpressed by the officer. He knows she's up to something and just hopes she give him some sort of clue before jumping right into something with these people.

"I'll tell you what." She does that weird pose with her hand that he remembers from the Citadel and rumbles in understanding, his hand inching closer to his pistol as the officer and armed Turian's attention moves towards the odd human gesture. "I know Anoleis is paying off officers to shake this place down. That makes those people criminals. I can kill criminals." She inspects her mock pistol.

The woman frowns in confusion over the oddity, her partner letting out a short vocal of equal misunderstanding, and even Liara's face twist in silent question of 'what the hell is she doing'. Garrus' hand grips his pistol and he feels the subtle shift of it unlatching from his hip as it settles into his palm.

"You're bluffing," the officer finally shouts out, her confidence returned now that she seems to be facing some insane lunatic who thinks her finger is a weapon.

Jane smirks and points her finger at the woman slowly, the Turian officer shifting his finger slightly off the trigger. _Not willing to shoot something he thinks is insane, good to know he's not completely crooked. Still don't like him aiming at Jane, though._ Garrus knows his target should this go south and waits for his signal.

"You think so?" Jane asks with a raised brow. "How about we make a bet, then. I bet I can take you out with my little finger before your partner has a chance to get a single shot off." Garrus' mandible flicks in amusement at the widening of his target's sunken eyes, the low harmonics of utter confusion and disbelief hitting his ears. "Want to test your theory?"

The human officer's eyes scan his mate from head to toe before she huffs in defeat. "Fuck this. He ain't paying me enough to take on Spectres, or Alliance troops, or whatever the hell you are, lady." She looks quickly to her partner and he shifts his eyes to her, a quick and silent conversation that lasts but a split second before she looks back to Jane. "How about this? You pretend you didn't see us and we pretend we didn't see you?"

Jane shrugs and steps aside, letting the two officers leave before she chuckles. Liara turns back to her and Garrus with incredulous eyes, having watched the leaving party get onto the elevator before the lift doors swinging shut.

"How … what did you?" She flounders and Jane shrugs. "Did you know they would leave without attacking?"

"No, but who cares? I wasn't bluffing, you know." The blue woman's thin brows draw down in silent question and Jane waves towards Garrus, where he holds up his pistol. "If they wanted to fight, Vakarian would take out the Turian. He was the only one smart enough to actually have a damn weapon out."

"And the woman?"

"And her… well, depending on if she shit her pants or not, she'd either get a second chance to run or would go for a little ride." Her hand pulses in a light blue before dissipating in a silent explanation.

"Goddess, you put a lot of trust in luck." Jane shrugs and pulls out her pistol, causing Garrus to switch his pistol to his sniper and Liara to unlatch her own gun.

All knowing that the conversation is over without their commander's order, they follow in formation as she leads them further into the offices. They are immediately set upon by more officers from the ERCS forces that have fallen under Anoleis' control and set to work taking them out.

Luckily, Jane is still using her pistol in attempts to be able to use her shotgun today if an 'emergency' arises. Though he has no clue what may constitute that, he is silently appreciative that she can't rush straight into the fray of battle like she's used to. He'd never admit it to her, though, for he values his life too much to poke fun at her tendency to treat the field like Wrex.

"Garrus, take out the flyers," his mate yells as she pulses in violet blue light, lifting her arm and causing a group of men to raise from the ground ahead of them. He takes sights on their floating bodies, targeting between each of their eyes or in the thin sections of their armor that lays above vital areas. His rifle shot echoes across the vast and empty offices, a stark contrast to the constant roar of the raging storm from the windows at their side.

Jane took the opportunity to move closer, taking cover mid-way between himself and their opponents so she can take shots with her pistol. They clear the lower level of the offices and he takes sights on the last remaining officers along the upper balcony as Jane motions Liara to follow her as they make their way forward. He provides cover fire, taking the attention of the enemy as he lets them get to a position that they can be effective at.

There's a moment between him taking out an armored Salarian and pinning down what seems to be the last human officer when he hears his wife's voice scream out over the din of fire. "You look tired. You should take a seat!" A white chair flings through the air of the upper floor and crashes into the figure, toppling him over the half wall and down to the level Garrus is on.

No longer under fire, he rushes to the rest of the squad and hears Liara's exasperated voice. "Really, Shepard. Was that necessary?" He turns the corner to see the archeologist holding a hand to her head as his wife searches a crate, most likely for credits as she tends to do.

"I thought it was pretty impressive," he speaks out as he walks up to them, his mate smiling a proud smile and making a show of puffing out her chest. "Though your one-liner could use some work." He chuckles at her glare.

"Alright, let's find Qui'in's office." She turns and starts to head down the walkway that lies before them. "I want to see these carpets he's so intent on keeping clean. Better not be some gaudy piece of crap or I'll just drag a body in here to spite him."

They make their way down a long path that overlooks the lower office and enter a large room, a single desk that wraps around a single chair with a large window overlooking the mountainside at its back. _This must be his office. Though why any self-respecting Turian would want anything to do with a window looking out into that horrible cold, I'll never know._

Jane leans over the desk and pops the OSD into the terminal, letting it run it and taking a look around the office. "Oh," she starts and looks to her feet, taking in the large carpet of sharp lines and figures of silver and white on black and dark red. "Well, I guess the old fart doesn't have too bad of tastes. Pity, turns out the sassy little shit has good tastes in furnishings as he does in women." She smirks knowingly in his direction, but drops it in a mock pout when he only rolls his eyes.

Liara, on the other hand, looks to the carpet with a tilted head and soft smile. "You don't see too many Turian art pieces outside of Hierarchy space. I can see why he wouldn't necessarily like to find stains on it." She looks up and sees Jane's raised brow before blushing. "I did a short study of current cultures for my work. I was able to better determine how the Protheans influenced each species' cultures that way."

Jane scoffs. "I am surrounded by nerds. All of you."

"Says the woman who sings in the elevator," Garrus rumbles in amusement and she waves his comment away.

"Come, on." She pulls out the OSD once it successfully completes its process. "Let's get back to Lorik with this information so we can get to Peak 15. I'm tired of running all over this damn place for everyone."

He nods and pulls his rifle off of his back as she takes lead again, Liara taking her left as she unholsters her pistol. They easily notice the new group of ERCS officers down the path and Jane motions in a silent order he recognizes as her telling them to stay alert but follow her lead.

When they get to the group, he immediately recognizes the forward individual as the Sergeant from the docks, the one who had the horrible disrespect for not only her own commanding officer, but Jane as well. He tightens his hold on his rifle as Jane lowers her sights slightly at the woman's approach.

"I don't think you're supposed to be in here, Shepard." She points out, redundantly.

Jane snorts and nods towards the stairwell behind the blonde haired human. "Good think we were just leaving. Unless you decided you wanted to hold my hand on the way out… That's very kind, by the way. I do get awfully scared sometimes."

The woman scowls as some of her officers look to each other in confusion. "Leave? You think I'm just going to let you walk out of here? Think again." Her words seem to bring her men's confidences back as they shift their holds on their guns, waiting for her command. "Anoleis would throw you off-world for what you did here, but I won't. Do you know what we did to cop killers on my world?"

"I'm afraid your point is invalid. The most I've ever done with a cop definitely wasn't killing them."

Garrus interrupts _that _kind of conversation. "Your men are dirty. They were here off-duty and being paid under the table. Don't expect us to feel bad against taking them out."

Jane shrugs and points her gun towards the woman. "Now, you want to know what I do to dirty cops?"

The officers scatter, drawing their weapons. Sterling drops behind a planter and yells out in distraction. "You talk the talk, let's see if you can walk the walk after I break your legs!"

Liara catches the Sergeant's men in a swirling vortex, giving Garrus the perfect opportunity to pick them off and whittle away the woman's backup as she takes blind shots around her cover. He sees a flash of a spinning grenade as Jane lobs over the explosive, the charge going off sending the blonde human out of her cover. Despite his every thought against it, his wife charges the woman, bolting down the open level thanks to Liara's biotics picking up the furniture, and slams a fist into the shocked officer's nose.

Before she can react and pull up her weapon, he watches his mate knee the woman in the stomach and making her drop her weapon. With a sharp crack, Jane pistol whips the woman, knocking her to the floor where she tries to scramble for her gun. With a scowl, she takes the corrupt woman in her sights and fires, putting a single shot through her head and ending her life.

"Fucking assholes," she says as she holsters her weapon. "And so many wonder why people can't trust in the law?" He flicks a mandible in silent understanding, but she just shakes her head and motions for them to leave.


	24. Chapter 23

-Jane-

Jane sends Liara to the bar with the excuse of grabbing them drinks to help coerce Qui'in in order to give herself a chance to think. On one hand, she sees the point Parasini is trying to make and knows this evidence, along with his testimony, will help her put Anoleis down. On the other hand, Parasini has already spent this long keeping her in the damn dark and playing the brainless assistant to the giant ass-hat and she can't help but still feel suspicious.

"You're considering leaving Parasini out to dry, aren't you?" The deep dual tones of her mate drift over her shoulder as he steps closer. "Jane, getting Qui'in to testify makes sure Anoleis is charged and punished."

She turns to Garrus with a frown. "Garrus, Lorik Qui'in is this only damn person on this fucking rock that was honest from the start. And don't tell me that you don't see it either because that's a load of shit." She checks quickly to make sure Liara is still occupied and out of earshot. "I will give him the offer to testify, but if he chooses not to, then I won't force him."

His brows lower and a low rumble of disagreement passes from his throat. "So, what? He'll just use that to blackmail the Administrator and Parasini will never get the chance to bring him in?"

She scoffs and waves towards the exit Parasini just left through to return to her office. "And I'm supposed to expect that he won't get the short end of the stick if he _does_ help her? What's to stop her from fucking him over once he agrees to help her? You can't possibly tell me every informant or witness gets what they deserves when it's their testimony that gives the only break in an investigation."

She'll admit that her past on the streets may have given her a bad view on the whole situation, but she'd rather lay her cards on someone who has been completely up-front from the start than someone who's been 'undercover.' Every time someone switched loyalties and, in short, became a 'snitch', they usually never lasted very long once the law got what it wanted from them. They were protected as long as they were needed and then left to the justice of the streets. She doesn't want to see the only damn person who wasn't so blatantly two-faced on this fucking planet of corruption be put in that same situation if she can help it.

She isn't stupid, though, and also sees the importance of his help. She just won't screw over the guy who actually did the work and put himself at risk to find this evidence if he doesn't wish to assist. _It'll all have to come down to him, I guess._

Garrus sighs and lays a soft hand on her shoulder before dropping it quickly. "Just think about it, okay? I know you trust Qui'in and I can't hear or see any signs that's he isn't doing what he thinks is best for this place, but Noveria works differently than the Citadel. People's sense of justice and fairness aren't the same here."

Jane nods with a sigh as she sees Liara making her way over, and gladly takes the carbonated drink for herself and a glass of Turian brandy as her bribe. Jane takes a sip of her drink that matches Liara's and scrunches her nose at the fizz, lightly lamenting that she told the woman no alcohol since they're on duty.

"Good job, Liara," Jane coughs at the unexpected tickle from the carbonation and takes an experimental sniff of the brandy. "This stuff smells strong… must be expensive." She doesn't tell the woman she actually knows it is from the distinct smell of spice Garrus has shown her only one brand uses in their drink, figuring that's a whole story better left unsaid. "If this doesn't convince him, I have no idea what will." She snorts. "Maybe I'll buy him a nice dance or two… I'm sure this place has a titty-bar."

The blue toned woman coughs a bit on her drink. "Goddess, Shepard. Don't tell me that."

Jane chuckles over her shoulder as she makes her way to the dark chocolate plated Turian and takes a seat at his table before he can offer. He rumbles in amusement and flicks a warm smirk across the table. "Greetings Spectre. Always a pleasure." She lays a glass on the table and pulls out the OSD. "I see you have news on the matter I asked you to look into."

She smirks and waves her crew to take a seat with them in silent statement that they may be here awhile. Liara sits to her left as Garrus takes her right, his eyes searching Qui'in in what she thinks is his attempt to try and get a read on the older man. _Once a cop, always a cop._

Jane studies the OSD in her hand with an interested look. "This little thing is awfully special, it seems." He raises a brow and she huffs a laugh. "Turns out Internal Affairs even knows you have this info that could bury Anoleis." She narrows her eyes at his slight irritation, the quick flick of mandible almost unnoticeable. "She wants you to testify against him."

At this, his calm demeanor cracks, his brow plates drawing down in a slight frown and a low growl erupting from his chest. "Now that you have my property, you want to dictate how I use it?" Her husband leans forward slightly, feeding from the man's agitation and obviously hearing something in his lower tones she can't if the responding growl is anything to go by.

Liara simply looks from one Turian to the other, probably knowing enough of Turian conversations to understand that a near silent debate has just crossed across the table. Jane can only hope her mate is sticking to the mission and not crossing _that_line into more serious, and private, topics. He's never really cared for their secrecy, but the last thing she needs is this man, who's already proven to not be above blackmail of others already, to know more than he should.

After their short battle, Lorik huffs and tosses his head lightly before returning to her attention. "I have no interest in a public spectacle, Spectre. My employers rely on the goodwill of the Executive Board to work here. I'd rather keep my silence than find myself out of employment."

Jane runs a fingertip along the rim of her own glass, creating a low hum. "You seem to think that the Executive Board aren't the ones looking into Anoleis. Odds are, you can be rewarded for assisting them." She raises the glass to her lips. "Especially since you did all the work while they sat on their assess."

He shakes his head softly. "You think so highly of the Executive Board." He takes a drink from his own glass while looking out of the large glass windows. "What's to insure that I won't be - how do you say it- 'left to the dogs'?"

Jane smirks and slides the glass across the table, pleased when he takes the offer with a thrum. "It's 'thrown to the wolves' but you got the gist of it. Honestly? I have no guarantee besides the fact that I can only let them know you agree so long as you get something in return." She shrugs. "And if that doesn't work for you. I'm sure I can always think of something else…" She smiles slyly. "Spectres can obtain anything the mind can imagine."

He purrs a rolling chuckle. "Is that a bribe I hear, Spectre?"

She shrugs. "'When in Rome.'" She moves to take a drink, stopping to ask with a raised brow, "Is that a 'yes'?" He ponders for a moment and she continues. "Name it, Qui'in: women, drugs, guns, fancy rugs to match yours – which I didn't stain, by the way. Sky's the limit. You'd be surprised what I can get my hands on."

She knows from the knowing twitch of mandible that he sees right through her banter, but she's glad to see that the tension seems to be almost entirely gone. She can definitely work with that and is more than willing to come up with some kind of compromise if it'll get him to do the right thing without putting him out in return.

What she doesn't expect is the deep chuckle and purring harmonics when he speaks. "Actually, Commander. I'm afraid what I want isn't something you're offering." She raises a brow around her glass and he motions to her right with a low hum of amusement.

A quick rumble of frustration from her side answers her curiosity before she can turn and she laughs, catching what the Turian is saying. She sets her glass down and shakes her head. "Well, if that was all it took, I'm sure I can grant Vakarian some leave." Liara finally catches on and sputters her drink as Lorik chuckles in response to her husband's huff, clearly not finding this situation as entertaining as she and Qui'in are. "What do you say, Vakarian? 'Die for the Cause,' right?" She looks to him with a smirk. "Good thing is, taking one for the team won't consist of a bullet."

He glares at her, which only makes her laugh more, and the older Turian holds a hand up from his side of the table. "If you'd be more comfortable, we could always invite the rest of your team." Jane snorts and raises her glass in silent agreement. "I'm not all that particular."

Garrus merely groans, laying his head in his palm as Lorik lets Jane clink her glass to his, the sound of Liara gasping in shock and embarrassment ringing out over the tink of glass on glass and slosh of liquid. Jane chuckles as she takes a sip, wondering how it worked out that their team found a bit of peace and break in the presence of this strange Turian with an odd knack to learn human idioms.

When they all calm a bit, Qui'in reaches into his coat pocket and slides two plastic cards across the table, a pass to the garage and credit chit. "Regardless, I will testify against Anoleis and I do believe I did agree to offer you a reward for retrieving the data, so this is only fair." Jane nods and hands over the OSD. "Make whatever arrangements you need with your contact. I will wait here." He takes the last drink from his glass, the amber liquid sliding down his throat. "Goodbye Spectre. I do hope we meet again."

Jane smiles genuinely and raises from her seat, her team following now that they must get back to their duties. She takes them to the elevator to go down to the main level and go to Gianna with the news of Lorik Qui'in's agreement to cooperate.

"It would be a hell of a shame to see the Executive Board take Qui'in's testimony without compensating him," Garrus says as the lift lowers.

Liara frowns, her blue eyes darkening with shared hopes to the same. "I agree, it's not often you find someone so friendly on a place like Noveria… even if he was a bit… eccentric." Jane chuckles with Garrus at that observation, the two of them completely agreeing but also appreciating the fact.

When the lift stops on at their destination, Jane goes to Parasini. The woman sees her enter and immediately stops her, the new tone that must be her actual voice still sounding strange over the fake cheer Jane's so used to hearing from the woman in red.

"Spectre." Her eyes narrow in stern command. "Have you spoken to Qui'in?"

Jane holds her hand up in a calming gesture. "Hold your damn horses, woman. Can't a girl make it into a room before you just start berating me?" Parasini rolls her eyes and huffs. "Now, I got Lorik to agree, but with some conditions. It's your responsibility to make sure he doesn't get swept under the table." She scowls and points a finger at the prissy woman. "He did your dirty work and you aren't going to just ride his coattails to get yourself a promotion. Don't fuck him over, Parasini."

"Please, Shepard," she says with an irritated wave of her hand. "I know how to treat my informants. Qui'in will be rewarded for his evidence and testimony by the Executive Board." She taps a few buttons on her terminal, causing it to go dark. "Now that pain in my ass is taken care of, I have an arrest to make." She crouches and reaches to pull a gun from under her desk. "I've already granted you access to the garage. I can't wait to take off this damn dress. Oh, and I owe you a beer for helping me take down this asshole."

Jane nods and watches the woman move off, her hand to her ear to call backup. Not really caring to stay behind and watch the arrest, she motions her squad to leave, finally getting the chance to actually be on track for her real mission.

They pass a mechanic on the way to the garage that adds a little insight into the happenings of their destination, Peak 15. Nothing too big or game changing, but enough to give her a suspicion that they may be finding something more suspicious than a Matriarch and her bodyguards. He also offers to repair the Mako if it gets any damage from the blizzard or on the road. She doesn't feel the need to tell him that's a guarantee with her driving and instead agrees to think about the suggestion, knowing her mate would be more than pleased to find out that he won't have to deal with it for once.

Once they get clearance into the garage, her suspicions are proven correct- _as always is my luck_- when Geth erupt out of crates Benezia must have left in the bay. Luckily, not all of the crates are rigged and offer enough cover as they fall seamlessly into battle.

"Garrus, take out those Destroyer shields," she commands while she throws a Singularity in the group of strange frog-like Geth. A large spark around the large metal figure is her only response as Liara also Warps the second massive Geth.

A group of ERCS guards rush in and lay down fire upon the synthetics, giving Jane and her team the chance to take them out while their attentions are divided among all of their targets. When the figurative smoke clears, a woman Jane recognizes as Captain Matsuo stomps over.

"What the hell, Commander?" She points out towards the location of the busted crates and destroyed Geth. "What did you do? What were those things?"

Jane lifts a brow. _Did she not see them?_ "I didn't _do_ anything besides take out some Geth."

"Geth? You expect me to-" Matsuo looks to the crumbled heaps of metal before returning her gaze to Jane, her eyes narrowed in confusion but not outright distrust. "Where did they come from?"

Garrus steps forward and motions toward the broken remains of the crates with the barrel of his gun. "My bets are on the shipping containers Benezia brought."

Jane nods in silent agreement but the Captain shakes her head with a stern look to the negative. "No. I don't believe that. We scanned those crates thoroughly and found nothing. No power sources, no element zero masses-" Her eyes widen in sudden realization. "If they really were packed with these _things_, then there are many more out there…" She turns her head to her men and motions towards the door back inside, then turns back to Jane and her crew. "I must report this to the Executive Board. With luck, we can prevent an investor panic."

_Fine by me,_ Jane thinks with a shrug as the woman takes her leave. Once gone, Jane climbs into the tank and orders Liara at the navigation terminal while Garrus straps on his helmet and takes the gun controls.

The moment the large bay doors of the garage swing open and she drives the tank out into the open air of the mountainside, the metal of the tank begins to rapidly cool, causing the inside air to lower dramatically. With a puff of visible breath, she nods to Liara's helmet in silent order and takes her own, snapping it on over her head in hopes to keep in the heat.

As they make their way through the blinding snow, she can feel the chill creep through her armor, settling through the cracks and seeping past the underarmor to sap her energy. Even the adrenaline from trying to outmaneuver the Geth sentries and mounted guns do not completely stay the cold and she can see Liara unthinkingly rub at her arms to try and warm herself. She wants to turn back to check on her husband, to ask if Tali's upgrades to his suit helped at all, but knows it will just bring up questions, so she holds her tongue.

"Shepard, we have another large Geth over the ridge." Jane's numb fingers tighten around the wheel at Liara's words, but doesn't respond with more than a grunt as she fights to control the vehicle against the cross winds buffeting the tank.

She hears the firing of the main gun, but not the responding 'all clear' of the enemy being taken out. "Hold the tank steady, Commander," her husband growls in their comm. She can see his shots aren't as accurate as normal, but doesn't fight him and instead forces the Mako straight on, risking fire to give him his shot. He takes the Geth out just as it launches a blast towards them, giving her the opportunity to thrust out of the way and she takes a quick glance over her shoulder at him, seeing his masked head lock gazes with her. It shakes once in silent dismissal of her concern, not really helping to assuage her worry, but they can't stop now, her only hope to get to Peak 15 and out of this cold.

"I think I see the facility up ahead," Liara says, a slight shake to her voice from the fact that she's probably shivering just like Jane is._Can't blame her, really. My biggest concern is Garrus, though. He's quiet and awfully still, only swinging the gun around when Liara tells us of incoming hostiles._

With this knowledge, Jane grips the wheel tightly and slams her foot down, pressing the pedal to the metal flooring. The tank revs loudly as it builds speed during its push against the weather, the sound being the first thing this whole time to finally overcome the screaming of the chaotic torrent outside.

They make it to the large complex built into the side of the cliff face and she pulls the tank as close as possible, making sure they will not have to travel too far without the protection of the Mako. They enter the building and find a large room with more crates from the port and a large number of Geth and Krogan.

Jane and Liara whip numerous enemies into the air with their biotics, giving them the perfect chances to take them out while incapacitated, and Garrus sets to work disabling the larger Geth's shielding with his tech. She hears the staccato of his assault rifle, an odd sound when she's so used to the single firing of his powerful snipe, and inwardly thanks the fact that she at least upgraded the gun from his old C-Sec issue one to something more lethal.

When they take out the enemy forces, they overhear a building-wide alert concerning Peak 15 and something about biohazards and the VI being offline. That gives them their next destination and the chance to get the station back online, hopefully heated too, as Jane motions her followers to move further in. They find the odd situation in the access tunnels of the back-ward facing turrets and Jane just knows everything so far isn't just coincidence, no matter how much she wishes it'd be and how much she wants this to be an easy mission.

The eerie clicking of the large metal and their solitary footsteps send chills up her spine. She can't help but maintain her hold on her gun as they ride the elevator up to where they suspect will lead them towards the reactor.

The upper level has a large room shrouded in snow that's found its way in from the broken widows and they find even more Geth troopers. A short firefight ensues, mostly uneventful and somewhat quick thanks to the absence of larger Geth with advanced weaponry.

They make their way up and further in the building when they start to hear loud and strange noises in the walls. "What the fuck?" Jane asks, waving her gun towards the echoes but not being able to pinpoint the origin of the bangs against metal.

A piercing scream channels through the room, inhuman and ringing in their ears, and they all swing their sights towards the higher level where a flash of movement rushes around the corner and straight for them.

Strange creatures straight out of a horror movie erupts from around the wall, long tentacles with sharp pinchers snapping out in the air as their segmented bodies scurry across the floor. "Holy shit! Kill it!" Jane screams, throwing out a defensive throw against the scurrying creatures that blast under the larger bodies.

Flashes of her childhood and the fear of the pests on the streets come rushing back, the bursting pops of the smaller bugs reminding her of all the vermin that carried disease and death and sending her muscles into little twitches not completely caused by the snow.

More of the large creatures erupt from gratings in the rooms along the hallway they rush to, their loud screeches and spits of vile smelling fluid splattering the white snow before her team take them out. She doesn't know how many of the disgusting bastards that take out, but by the time they have made it to the exit and swing the doors shut behind them, their breaths are ragged.

"What the fuck!?" Jane screams, her hands on her knees as her lungs struggle to take in the thin, cold air.

"My sentiments exactly, Shepard," Liara pants, not in a much better position than Jane.

Jane glances over to her mate and takes him in. He's quiet, which isn't too odd considering he doesn't talk much during battle, but is odd enough when considering that all he's said since they've left port was a single sentence in frustration. His stance is off too, as he seems not just exhausted, but tired, his breath actually heavy and deep over the comm and not at all what's normal for after a firefight.

"Liara," Jane turns to the blue skinned woman and hands her a pack of Omni-Gel before motioning over towards the red-lit door before them. "That's our only way to go. See if you can get it unlocked with this." Liara nods in understanding and takes the gel to the door without question to get to work.

Once she's out of earshot, Jane pulls off her helmet and moves towards her husband. "Mute your comm, Garrus," she whispers and only gets a sluggish flick of Omni-Tool in acknowledgement that he's heard and obeyed. She frowns, pulls off a glove, and raises her bare hand to his neck, unlatching the closure of his undersuit. She lays a hand against his hide and hisses at the drastic change in temperature she's so used to. Instead of fever hot, he's cold and his blood pulses sluggishly.

"Garrus," she gasps, her voice still low but full of all of her reprimand. "What the fuck? I thought you and Tali fixed your suit."

A depreciative laugh is hollow through the plating of his helmet. "I already told you, Jane. We didn't count for a blizzard." He takes her hand from his neck, his grip frighteningly weak, and fumbles with the closure before she can't stand it and helps him, his incoordination sending a stab to her heart.

"I shouldn't have let you come here." She presses a latch on her suit, causes a tiny heating coil to pop out of the armor. Her Omni-Tool beeps once in acknowledgment of loss of power source, but she ignores it. "Come here." He tries to push her hand away, but it's futile in his state and she easily overpowers him, dragging him close so she can search for his own suit's heating unit. "Don't fight me damnit," she whispers with a glare and he growls lowly, but points to her destination in defeat. She pops the coil into his suit and sees he still has at least one more slot for another. She looks up to him with a raised brow. "How many heating coil inputs does your suit have?"

He pushes the coil flush, his Tool registering the added component and responding with a light ping. "We can carry ten coils, but even the coldest planets have only needed eight at the most."

Jane had an idea that Turians reacted differently to the cold, but she never expected to hear that they needed at least twice the amount of heating units to keep warm enough to not go into hypothermic shock. _God damn it, Garrus. You are not going to freeze on this fucking planet._

"You should have fucking told me how serious this was getting," she whisper yells, shoving a finger in his chest. "God damn it, I'm not letting my fucking idiot husband die on this god damn icy hell because he was too stubborn to let me out of his sight." She takes a quick look to see Liara finishing up the last of the unlocking procedure on the door and turns back to Garrus.

"Here," she unlatches her pistol and disassembles it quickly, stripping it down to the two mass accelerators that can be used as heating coals for his suit. "I'd rather you be alive so I can kill you than have my pistol." She jabs a fist against his heating units, opening them before shoving the accelerators into the last two empty slots.

She taps his helmet with a soft smile before turning and seeing Liara standing from the now-open door to the elevators. "Good job, T'Soni," she calls out. "Now you can tell Kaidan that, yes, you do know how to unlock a door." _Though it also was a good way to keep you occupied while I tended to other matters,_ she inwardly adds.

The woman huffs a soft laugh at Jane's recall of the morning's conversation between the Lieutenant and doctor when they were eating breakfast and trying to one-up the other good-naturedly. "I don't know if I want him to know that his prank to lock my locker won't work," she responds as Jane straps her helmet back on and locks out the chill air, letting the feeling come back to her nose and cheeks. "I wouldn't want him to come up with something else."

Jane shrugs with a smile she knows the woman can't see and taps the command to take them to the next level, silently hoping the extra coils in Garrus' armor will help him. They still have a long way to go and have found themselves at a point where their only option is to move forward.

~SquigglySquid says: I'll admit, I had _way_ too much fun writing Lorik Qui'in. I love that sassy ass Turian. Conclusion to Noveria in the next chapter. :)


	25. Chapter 24

-Garrus-

Liara rushes to her mother the moment the Matriarch collapses, leaving Garrus and Jane to finish off the remaining of Asari commandos. Jane lifts the woman rushing from their right, and he takes the shot, taking her down as his wife turns her biotics on the commando on their left. The blue woman is nearing T'Soni's position, but she is thrown towards the large container in the center of the room, she body smacking against the glass with a loud crack before falling to the ground limply.

Jane looks to him quickly before rushing to Liara's side, dropping to one knee and laying a calm hand on the smaller woman's hitching shoulders. Her mother is gone, her eyes closed and chest still, and he watches his mate take the doctor's hands away from their tight grips in her mother's dress.

"She can't be gone," T'Soni cries, her fingers clenching tightly in her mother's dress before she suddenly turns and wraps her arms around Jane. Her voice is muffled against the armor, but her pain is obvious and even makes Garrus' mandibles flick in shared sympathy. "Why didn't she fight it? What am I going to do without her?"

Jane looks to him in silent plea and he shifts to lock his gun to his back, knowing she's going to need help with the crying woman. She nods in silent thanks and turns to their hysteric friend. "Liara, she did fight it." She pats the woman's back, the motion seeming stiff from what he knows is her difficulty in sharing in deep emotional connections and her attempt at trying. "I'm sorry, but we can't do anything for her now but make sure we use the information she fought so hard to give us."

Garrus cringes a bit at the bluntness of his wife, but Liara doesn't seem to consider it too much as she lets Jane shift her up onto her feet with little difficultly. He has to hand it to the Asari, she may be falling apart at the loss, but she can shut it out like the best of soldiers as she rubs the back of a hand against her darkened and puffy eyes.

She unsteady on her feet, but she manages to let Jane go and looks to her with dark eyes. "Shepard, I…I…" she starts, but stops when the tears roll down her cheeks.

Understanding it's best to pull her from this situation, Garrus steps up to Liara and motions further away to a set of crates she can rest that are well away from the sight of her deceased mother. She nods and lets him lead her weakly to the crates, where she pulls her legs up and sniffles as she tries to compose herself while Jane moves closer to the large container and strange creature within it that Benezia seemed to be interested in when they arrived.

Leaving T'Soni to what little sense of peace and privacy they can manage in this short time of calm, Garrus turns to join his wife, his hand immediately pulling his gun at the sight of an Asari shambling up behind her. He rushes around the corner in time to see Jane spin and aim at her supposed assailant, but lowers her weapon with a frown with the commando stumbles past her to turn before the creature's tank.

He doesn't drop his weapon, the sight of her clearly broken neck hanging at an odd angle all the proof he needs that this Asari shouldn't be up and walking, let alone talking some nonsense of music and colors. Her words and voice are strange, tones he's never heard before from an Asari echoing from her lips, and when she starts to speak of vessels and mothers of children, he starts to understand that this isn't an Asari that's speaking, but the creature in the tank.

It's when the word 'rachni' fall from the dead woman's lips that his throat grinds with a low growl. _That's impossible… Rachni? Alive? After we made damn sure to kill every last one of them? No wonder every one of those bastards in Rift Station wanted to keep silent about what happened here._

The corpse continues to speak as he runs all of the horrible possibilities this living rachni could bring and he barely misses it openly telling them to rid the facility of its offspring. Despite his wife's furrowed brow, he is completely at ease killing however many bugs crawl out of the grates or pop from the floors and is even ready to start with the one before them, but he knows Jane is thinking something. He also knows he's probably not going to like it.

"What will you sing? Will you release us?" the rachni asks through the shivering corpse and Garrus growls lowly at the question, completely disgusted that such a monster would even think otherwise. "Are we to fade away once more?"

"Commander," he cuts in, his visor zeroing in on the large vats stationed above the container and confirming his suspicion when he gets a better chance to read the smaller print along their sides. "Those containers above this tank contain acid. Strong enough to kill anything, no matter the protection, and a failsafe should that thing get loose."

Liara must have made her way to them as the insect spoke because he hears her voice at his side, calling out to Jane. "The rachni made a mistake. She said it herself that she wasn't even alive when the Krogan wiped out their species. This is our chance to atone, to save a people before they are gone forever."

He looks to her with clenched mandibles. _Is she serious? Was she too focused on Protheans to have never read the more current history? The Rachni Wars were brutal and his people took most of the damage before the Krogan were brought in as a last resort._

"Do you not remember the war, T'Soni?" Jane turns to him with a raised brow, but he ignores her and turns to Liara, not caring to let the purple hue to her flushed skin soften his words. "Maybe Asari don't put much importance on it, but my people had to die fighting them for nearly a century before the Krogan were brought in. Then, we had to take care of the damn Krogan because your people sure as hell weren't." Liara gasps, but her brows draw down in soft contempt.

The Rachni Queen turns her shambling body to face him. "Is our kind so frightening? You would seek our silence if you cannot muffle our songs?" Surprisingly, the dead woman glares. "If you cannot have us as your obedient claws?"

Jane drops her head in her hands and he already knows her decision, even if she doesn't yet. It isn't what he would choose, but he knows his wife never chooses to do something without fully thinking it through.

She looks up to the queen and walks past the Asari body to look directly at the Rachni. "Humans weren't there in the wars, just like you, and I can't condemn an entire race I've never truly had any knowledge of to death. Know this, you only get one chance to prove your race isn't entirely made of killing monsters. Don't fuck it up."

With that, she slams the release, causing the Asari body to collapse at the same time that the tank rises and its door opens. The rachni turns to them once, before scurrying away into the snow, hopefully to live by its word and not as he fears.

He may never see eye-to-eye about the Queen with his wife, but he can see the tension that's set in her shoulders ease a slight bit. He knows that saving the rachni was less about saving a race and more about trying to save at least one person today. Since they've set foot in Peak 15, death has followed them like an unwanted shadow, and he knows that the added pain of Liara losing her mother helped her make her decision over the creature. Had it not been for that loss, he's sure it would have gone differently.

It is in that respect, that he feels he doesn't need to fight her on this, not when she's already fighting internally. No, he will leave the issue be and, should the worse come to pass, be by her side to take the lying bitch of a parasite down.

"Thank you, Shepard," Liara says as they enter the elevator to take them towards the transport. "There has been too much death today."

Jane shifts against the glass wall with a sigh, her protest obvious on her face but he sees she's too tired, letting it pass instead with a soft shrug. When the lift approaches the stop with the tram, his wife leans forward and stops the doors from opening, turning to T'Soni. "Liara, go to the tram and get it ready to leave this place. Send out a signal for everyone to get the fuck off this station if they haven't already. Vakarian and I are going to take care of the Hot Labs and that supposed fail safe they have. We may need to get the hell out of dodge and I need the train prepped."

Liara agrees with a nod and rushes to the tram when Jane lets the doors open, leaving Garrus alone with her as she leads him towards their last destination before leaving this frozen planet and hopefully regaining feeling in his extremities.

They travel the winding passageway to the lift up to the Hot Lab, climbing in and setting their destination before she turns to him and pats his shoulder. "I know you don't agree with what I did back there, but I've seen too much death today." She exhales heavily, her body slackening with her exhaustion. "Out of everything today, how could I look at myself in the mirror knowing I listened to the pleas of someone and just poured acid on them in response?"

He strokes a finger along the back of her hand, not really feeling the caress-_damn this cold_- but succeeding in stopping her train of thoughts. "Jane, I understand. Yes, I don't agree with the fact that it was a rachni we saved, but I understand why you did it."

He drops his head back against his cowl, trying to relax some of the tensed muscles from the cold and only managing to loudly clack his helmet against the back of his armor. He groans and rubs against the underarmor at his neck instead, the feeling of the lift slowing making him turn to her once more. "Look, in a way, I agree with you. Genocide isn't the answer, especially when that rachni had nothing to do with the war." She responds with a nod and soft smile as the lift stops and the doors swish open, giving them a view of a small lab with a single occupant.

They approach the lone scientist and learn of their mistakes, a repeat of what the queen had said but also a better idea of just exactly what was happening from the perspective of the ones responsible. It was just as he figured, a company too interested in harvesting the rachni as weapons and not realizing that wouldn't work from a simple history lesson.

The only beneficial thing this idiot gives them is the assurance that the rumors were true and that the station does, in fact, have a failsafe known as the Neutron Purge. Luckily, everyone is either off the station or on their way in doing so thanks to Liara's warnings and all that's left is to activate the system.

That is, until their only source of the activation code gets impaled by an ambushing rachni tentacle.

With a sharp cry, Jane throws a full-forced throw against the creature, making it fling across the room and give him enough time to pull out his assault rifle. He litters it will enough shots to make sure it will never get back up and looks to her with a raised brow.

"Every time we see these things, you scream."

She glares at him. "I do _not_ scream." She crouches down to the scientist's body and searches his pockets, the need to check his pulse not needed due to the giant hole in his chest. "It's just a bit of a fright, is all."

He moves to her to give her cover while she searches in case they are attacked again and rumbles, unimpressed. "If anything, you seem to squeal more around the little ones. I also believe there's a lot of 'get it off me' and 'kill it' coming out of your mouth too."

She grunts and pulls out a plastic card that he assumes must have the destruction sequence code on it, or at least he hopes it does. "It's just that they remind me of tiny roaches from earth." She glares and points a finger in his face. "And if you tell a single person I'm afraid of roaches or say I scream-or god forbid, do another impersonation of me- I will murder you in your sleep, Vakarian." She waves to the inner door. "Now come on, let's blow these bastards to hell and get the fuck off this frozen planet."

As their luck has it, their exit isn't as smooth as they would hope, for as soon as they input the code, the piercing, inhuman screams of the monsters in the facility ring in the air from their only way out. He hears a quick curse from her lips and has just a moment to mirror her upset before she's bolting head first through the horde, her gun at her hip so that she can use both hands to toss the bugs to the side.

At the elevator, she turns to throw the rachni at their back while he slams a fist against the controls, grabbing her shoulder and jerking her into the lift as the doors rush closed. They pant as the elevator drops, Garrus trying to force his stiff and frozen body to hold out just a bit more so that they can make it to the tram in time to escape.

_At least the pain from the cold has stopped,_ he thinks as the lift begins to slow in its descent. /iThough, I doubt that's a good sign./i

They are on the move before the doors completely open, squeezing their bodies through the hydraulic doors to save those few seconds before sprinting towards their transport. Liara is bounding in nerves at the controls, not able to do much beyond wave her arms in attempts to hurry them as the transport starts to move away from the platform.

Jane is first on the tram, his longer strides burdened by his weakened muscles and slower reactions from the cold in his veins. He has a split moment of fear at not making it to the train when his feels a hard grip around his gauntlet and a sharp pull he's sure is backed by biotics rip him in.

He lands hard on his mate with a grunt from them both, but he's too tired to mind as all three of them laugh, the sound nearly hysterical as the booming and distance discharges of the purge go off seconds later. Though they are both exhausted, covered in blood, grime, and various fluids of unknown origin, she looks amazing with the first smile since taking to the mountain curling her cracked lips and slaying her messy hair against the dingy tram floor.

Knowing they aren't alone in the tram, the split moment of peace is gone as he shifts up on his arms to crawl off of her. "Thanks, Commander. Don't think I would have made it if not for your nearly pulling my arm out of its socket."

They sit up against the seats, too tired to actually pull themselves off the floor, and Liara takes a seat beside them. "What can I say, Vakarian? Leaving you wasn't worth the paperwork."

He makes a show of cringing. "All you had to do was bring that up and I would've been the first one on the tram. If _that_ paperwork is anything like C-Sec, then I wouldn't even wish that on Saren."

She chuckles while rubbing her hands against each other, a sign of being cold he thinks. "Now, now. I wouldn't go that far. Odds are that by the end of everything, you'll be wishing every horrible form from C-Sec on the rogue Spectre." She leans back and rests her head on the seat behind her. "God, I do _not_ want to head back down that cold ass mountain in that Mako deathtrap."

Liara chuckles, but it's obviously just as forced as her friendly smile, the sadness still in her blue eyes. "I think we'd all like to not have to sit through your driving again."

Jane rolls her eyes and huffs. "You can always walk."

Garrus shrugs and stretches his legs, the space between the seats only letting him lessen the bend in his knees, but it's enough to help relax the muscles some. "I'm just glad I won't have to repair it this time."


	26. Chapter 25

-Jane-

Jane enters the dark room behind the medbay that Liara had designated for herself, a heating blanket in hand and orders from Dr. Chakwas to make sure the woman is properly warming up. Sure, she also came to the young Asari's side to check up on her after the loss of her mother and if the soft sounds of gasping breath and muffled sobs are anything to go by, her decision was a good one.

She may not know how T'Soni feels, losing someone who gave her life, raised her, and loved her as a good mother should, but she knows loss and she knows that's it's never best to deal with that alone. She searches out the quiet crying with her ears, her sight not yet completely adapted to the dark surroundings, and steps calmly over to the dark shape of Liara's cot.

"Hey," Jane soothes softly, kneeling down beside the woman's bed and laying the folded heating blanket on the edge between herself and the broken girl's turned back. "Chakwas thought you might want this to warm up." Her eyes have adjusted enough to make out Liara rolling over and taking in the offered item. When she reaches for it, Jane takes it as a good sign and helps her unfold it and cover herself.

"Thank you, Shepard," her soft voice rings out, stuffy from her tears and almost too quiet for Jane to have noticed if she wasn't practically sitting at the bedside. The blanket hums quietly to life as its sensors determine the proper settings for the Asari and Jane turns to sit on the cold floor, her back against the railing of the cot.

Jane sits in comforting quiet as she lets the warming blanket aid in soothing the grief stricken archeologist. She knows that any attempt at words on her part aren't what Liara needs. She may never be able to truly know the sympathy of losing a caring mother, but she does have experience in great loss and all she can offer is an open ear for the woman to vent her pain.

Almost as if T'Soni has heard her thoughts, Jane hears the woman finally speak. "I am sorry for the way I acting back at Peak 15." Her voice is flat besides the slight sniffle of past tears and discomforting in its lack of emotion. "I was unprofessional and I shouldn't have mourned Benezia, she… she brought it upon herself."

Jane frowns in the dark at the pain in the words, knowing that the outburst within the facility was a child at the instant of sudden loss of their parent. Liara's actions don't need to be apologized for and she shouldn't have to deny the truth that even Jane can see.

"Liara," she says calmly, her eyes falling to the floor between her legs. "You don't need to apologize for anything that happened back there and she shouldn't feel guilty for crying for the loss of you mother." She looks to the ceiling, thinking back to her own childhood and pulling at the few memories of when she was graced with the blessing of seeing through the drugged and sexed haze and into the woman that truly was her mother. "Your mother may have chosen a wrong path, but it will never change the fact of who she was to you or take away from the love you had for her."

A sniffle echoes from the bed at her back. "You're right… I do love her, but I will always remember her at the powerful woman she used to be, before she was corrupted by Sovereign's power." A sort pause and deep breath sounds before Liara continues, a bit more strength and conviction in her words. "I like to believe she will live on in me, just as all Asari believe their parents do. Perhaps, one day, I may be able to show the galaxy all the good my mother was and not just have her remembered by her one mistake."

Jane doesn't voice her doubts, instead letting her believe in the strength of hope, and nods softly in the dark. She knows that the few and far too insignificant memories of ever being treated as something close to a daughter by the woman who gave her life have twisted her views on such a sense of solace that she can't see past her skepticism, but she won't destroy whatever peace Liara can get.

Instead, Jane waits a moment before turning her head slightly to regard T'Soni over her shoulder. When she sees and hears that she no longer seems to be crying, she twists her body and uses her hands on the cot to push herself up off the hard ground. "You should get some rest, Liara. We all had a long day on Noveria."

Before she can pull her hands away from the surface of the cot, Liara places a soft hand on hers and Jane has to fight not to jerk away like she's been burned. Jane softly pulls her hand away in an easy, but obvious, let-down, hoping she hasn't just backtracked her entire effort to calm the Asari.

She doesn't see the woman's responding frown, but hears the soft hurt it in her voice when she says, "Thank you again, Shepard. I don't think I would have been able to do this without you."

Jane inwardly sighs, knowing her coming here has probably gotten her deeper into something with the stricken Asari. She doesn't necessarily regret offering some comfort, just the fact that it seems to have been taken the wrong way and made it harder once she finally gets the chance to dissuade the woman's feelings.

"Don't worry about it," Jane says with a shrug before adding, "It's something I would do for any of my team." Hoping it'll help to get her point across that this didn't mean more than a friend checking in on a friend in need.

She exits the room without managing to dig her rhetorical grave any deeper and silently wishes that the conversation between the two over this one-sided relationship that's forming will hurry up and come to a head. The sooner she gets the chance to let Liara know she doesn't share the sentiment, the better, for she'd rather not see the girl become too more attached to her so that the reject isn't taken too harshly.

_If only I could just say, 'hey, I know you like me and I can tell you know, it won't work out',_ Jane thinks with a furrowed brow. _But no, I can't do that because I don't want to seem like an utter bitch that doesn't even give someone a chance to come to terms on their own first-_

"Commander, a moment." Jane is pulled from her inner turmoil by the insisting voice of her chief medical examiner.

"Oh," she turns to Chakwas with a raised brow, her path out the door stopping mid-step. "Yes? Something you need?"

Chakwas smiles with a soft chuckle at the sight of Jane so lost in thought and hands over another large heating blanket. "I was going to ask you to take this down to the cargo bay and give it to Officer Vakarian. He's not in any danger, really, but this might help him feel better."

Jane smirks, her brow quirking a tad bit higher on her head. "Didn't you just examine him to make sure he wasn't frostbitten or something? Why didn't you just give it to him then?" She jabs one fist on her hip as she holds the blanket with the other.

Chakwas pats her on the shoulder and nudges her towards the door. "Because it seems he's just as reluctant to stay in the medbay as his mate." That makes Jane nearly trip over her feet as they suddenly plant to the ground as if she's wearing mag boots. She turns to the doctor with her jaw dropped, all attempt at being a smart ass gone, and Chakwas merely chuckles.

"Don't give me that look. I'm not blind." She pats Jane's back to make her move. "Though, I did have an advantage by having to check him for any signs of injury from the cold, so I can't really take too much pleasure in leaving you speechless for once." Jane mock glares at the older woman's satisfied smirk.

"Now go," she pushes Jane out of the medbay completely, "I gave him some pain meds to help with the feeling coming back into his limbs and that should help him to get through the night with little discomfort. It's late and I'm going to turn in for the night."

Jane takes a step, then stops when she suddenly realizes something. "Wait," she spins as the doors are closing, "there's only one heating blanket here."

"Wow, would you look at that. I guess you'll have to share," the devious woman says as the doors whirl shut and glow red in denied access.

Jane huffs in frustration, glad that no one was awake and in the crew area to overhear their conversation, _or see the obvious mutiny of my own doctor_, and heads towards the elevator.

She knows that it was only a matter of time before Garrus was examined and Chakwas found his bondmark, and, truthfully, she doesn't really mind or fear the woman knowing about it. The doctor is a professional and takes her job as a doctor just as seriously as Jane takes hers as a soldier, so she knows their secret is never in any danger as far as Chakwas is concerned.

The elevator reaches its stop and Jane steps out, noticing the empty bay as everyone is either in bed or their quarters at such an odd hour in the night. At this, she drops the façade and lets Jane Vakarian finally step before Commander Shepard, knowing that these dead hours of the Normandy are her perfect opportunity to finally be with the one she loves.

She finds said love bundled up in his bunk in the darkened corner behind the Mako, his body curled up in what she thinks is his attempt to hold in his diminished heat. She's never seen him in such a form, and if it wasn't for the painful tugging at her heart from the sight, she'd be amazed at how small he can actually make his large form when he tries.

She quickly flaps the blanket, whipping it open and calling his attention, making him lift his head. She immediately drops to his bunk and covers him with the heavy material, not liking the dazed look in his eyes.

"Come here," he slurs as he tries to sit up and pull her to his lap. She huffs at this movement causing the blanket to fall and practically become useless, but quickly sees the benefit as she climbs into his lap. She pulls the blanket over his shoulders and presses her body to his front, figuring the added effect of two warm surfaces on his body will help warm him faster.

"Damn it, Garrus." She rubs the chill hide at his neck as he drops his head over her shoulder. "You stupid, ugly bastard. Why didn't you stay with Chakwas so she could give you this blanket?"

He rumbles at her jab, his arms tightening around her body and pressing her closer. "Because I hate doctors, not to mention when they start talking about my marriage."

The slur in his voice is lessened, but she still doesn't like even the smallest of hints of it. "Garrus, why are your words garbled? Do I need to take you back to the medbay?"

He nuzzles his mandible against her lower jaw. "No, I just took some pain killers." She pulls his head to look him in the eyes with a raised brow and he shrugs in response to her silent interrogation. "Alright, I probably took a little too much, but I'll be fine once I start to warm up and actually end up needing them. Figured it was better to take them before the pain hit."

She shakes her head, but lets him press back against her, pulling the blanket tighter around his back as it hums to life and starts to warm up. "You really shouldn't self-dose."

"I did the calculations," he mumbles at her ear. "Now, shouldn't you be nicer to someone who nearly froze to death because you thought Noveria was the perfect place to vacation?"

She frowns, even though he won't see it. "I'll have you know that Noveria was not a _vacation_. I hated it just as much as you did." She scratches her nails against a thinner part of his back and he rumbles at the sensation. He's always liked it, saying it was like she's scratching an itch he can never quite reach and has since ignored until she brings it back up by scratching it. She chuckles when he wiggles a bit in silent command of where her figures should go and moves around his plates, scratching at every spot of thinner material that she's remembered.

"You know," he finally purrs into her ear. "I've heard that when you warm someone, you're supposed to be wearing less clothes." He plucks at the sleeve of her shirt to cement his point.

She raises a brow, stopping her scratching to lay her palms flat against his upper back. "Oh really? So Turians warm up with skin-to-skin contact, do they?" She taps on his hard carapace and smiles. "Seems a bit odd considering your plates don't conduct heat." He ignores her comment, lowering a hand to reach under the fabric of her shirt and run a cold palm up her spine, causing her to hiss. "Okay, okay. Give me a second, just don't do that again."

He chuckles and pulls back enough for her to pull her shirt over her head and toss it off his bunk. Before he's able to reach back to unhook her bra, though, she takes his hands and holds them between hers, trying to will her body heat into them. "Jesus, Garrus. You're freezing. Are you sure you don't need to be in the Medbay?"

He purrs and drops his forehead to hers, the lack of his usual warmth making her lips pull down in concern. "There's not much up there that I'd be doing that I'm not already doing here- well, expect that I'd be missing out on _this_." He thrums in his chest in what she knows is a comforting tone to try and ease her nerves. "Turians react to cold differently and we heat back up differently, too. This," he motions between them with his head but manages to stay presses against her, "is normal. Our bodies get cold because we don't have fat to hold the heat in. Once we lose the heat, we need a source of it to regain our normal temperature."

His mandible flicks and his eyes squint in a light cringe. "And _that's_ what happens once we start to warm up." His hands tighten a fracture around hers and a low groan rumbles from his chest.

"How badly does it hurt?" She holds his hands to her chest and closer to her hotter body.

"Not too bad considering all the medication I took." His fingers twitch against her skin in what she thinks must be him flexing to try and get more blood flowing. "The pain is a good sign, since dead tissue wouldn't hurt when the blood flow starts to come back."

She likes that his voice is a bit clearer and hopes that it doesn't mean he's getting over the effects of the drugs he took as it seems like he may be needing them. On the topic of his changes in speech, she remembers something from their mission in the frozen station and pushes against him to draw his attention before asking, "Back on Noveria, you got really sluggish. What are the signs of hypothermia in Turians, exactly?"

He must sense her fear over how close he may have been because he rumbles softly, pulling her close to his warming but still chilled body. "Jane… we don't have to think about that now."

She tightens her chin in anger, her teeth biting at the smooth surface of her inner lip, before she squeezes her arms around his armored body. "God damn it, Garrus," she hisses. "I want to fucking know if I was on the verge of losing my fucking husband. You owe me that much."

He sighs deeply, his breath fluffing through some of her fallen hair. "Turians usually go into a deep sleep if our body temperature drops low enough. First, we get drowsy and uncoordinated as our blood flow slows and leaves our limbs in attempt to get our core warm. Our limbs hurt at first, then our muscles get sore and stiff before going completely numb." She buries her face into his cowl as he continues to list off. "Once our temperature drops to the point where we can't maintain heat in our core, we start to shut down and fall into a deep sleep."

She doesn't need him to say what comes next, knowing full well the words he doesn't want to burden her with even though she isn't too oblivious to connect the dots. She can't come up with words, her chest hurting at the unwanted knowledge of just how much they were tempting fate bringing him on that damn shit hole, and only manages to pull herself impossibly close, her legs and arms tightening around his plated body.

"Hey," he purrs, letting her get close and responding in kind with his own hold. "I'm okay now, Jane."

"Don't give me that shit!" She looks up to him, not ashamed of the watery look to her eyes from her stubbornness to not let herself cry. "You almost fucking died! Don't you care about that?"

She searches his eyes and sees his honest regret, which helps to ease some of her distress, but not much. He nuzzles his lip plates against her forehead with a soft purr. "I do care, but looking back at what we saw down there, I'd gladly die to make sure you were safe." She closes her eyes tightly, willing the waterworks not to start and for her face to take on a look of reprimand and sternness. _Be a Commander on this, damn it._ She feels two large hands, still not as hot as she wants, cup her face and pull her from her inner demands.

"Look at me." She opens her eyes reluctantly, like prying open sealed slabs, and finds herself immediately locking onto his beautiful blue eyes before her. "I may have died down there, but I didn't and I'm here now." He pushes his forehead to hers before lowering his lip plates to hers and letting his words puff against her trembling lips. "Please don't make this more than it has to be. I love you, Jane."

She can't hold back the quick exhale that borders on a sob as he presses his mouth to hers, drinking in her strange combination of grief and relief. She loves the feeling of his rough tongue probing for entrance into her warm mouth, happily letting his cooler muscle enter her to suck the heat from her own.

"I love you," she gasps when he pulls away to nuzzle into her neck with a rumbling purr. "I love you. I love you," she repeats like a mantra to the ceiling, her voice breaking at the shear amount of emotions rushing through her body from the entire day, from docking at the port to their rush onto their escaping tram after setting off the purge.

He nudges his mouth under her chin, stroking his chilled tongue against her sensitive neck and she gasps at the sudden need for him flowing through her veins. She takes her hands from his back and strokes along his waist, paying extra care to message over the scar at his hip from her teeth in silent hint at what she desires.

He growls is response and drops his hands to her waist band, all but snapping off her buttons as he fumbles to remove her clothing. She has enough sense of mind to inwardly appreciate the fact that he's regaining the finer control of his extremities as she feels the sensation of the cloth around her hips loosening before a cold hand dips in, running the backs of his fingers teasingly just below the band of her panties.

She pulls his hand away from her, lifting off of him and shifting her legs enough to ease her clothing off. She climbs back onto him, immediately feeling the cooler temperature of his legs below her, but shoves the thought aside as his hands run to unhook her bra, tossing it aside with the rest of her clothes.

He kisses her while his hands caress her breasts, the chill to them making her nipples perk up at the strange new sensation added in with his usual callous and talon tip. He has her panting in no time, pulling away to run a tongue along her pulse as she fights to keep her breath.

"Garrus, we need you out." She grips his waist and his growls into her hair. He moves back enough to let her drop her hands to his groin, the plates barely open.

She lifts a brow to him in silent question, but he chuckles, running a finger under her chin. "Just cold, Jane." He takes one hand and places it behind his fringe. "I just need a bit more_encouragement_."

Taking the cue, she smirks and digs her fingers in the softer flesh behind his head, pulling a responding moan from his lips. She scoots more into his lap and moves her mouth to his neck, biting into it as she takes her hand from his crotch and squeezes his center fringe forcefully.

He responds with a low growl and buck of his hips, the telltale smell that reminds her a bit of mint hitting her nose that comes from his arousal. She knows he likes it rough mainly because it reminds him of what he'd get with a Turian mate but she also figures that force will best get through the numbness of his cold muscles and possible numb nerves.

She gets her suspicions confirmed when he pulls her closer to him, grinding her wet core against his opened plates and using the pressure of her weight to force himself free. She bites harder, even giving her head a little shake, and he bucks with a moan, his head dropping back while a rhythmic thrumming vibrates in his chest.

He pushes her down onto him almost painfully and she gasps at the sensation of him entering her, his penis flexing and pulsing as the increased blood flow starts to cause it to take its ridged shape and fill its pronounced contours and rises. She squeezes her eyes shut and grips his shoulders as uses his hands to grind her against him, directly stimulating her clitoris with the plating at his base.

When the sudden shock of his entry subsides into pleasure and he begins to thrust up into her, using his hands to help guide her as she too moves over him. She cups his face, gazing into his wild and magnificent eyes filled with lust, hunger, and deep devotion.

She drops her forehead to his in silent command to stay as she drops her hands to pull the blanket back up around him, still having enough consciousness to remember the main reason they're having desperate sex in the shadow of the Mako in a crappy bunk too small for one of them, let alone both. She holds the corners down to his shoulders with her hands as she uses her new positon to push against him and change their angle.

They are close to their respect climaxes when they are startled from their reverie by the loud banging of something heavy dropping to the metal floor. Garrus pulls her closer with a low growl, obviously still in a more disoriented mindset to share in Jane's silent panic as she shoves against him, trying to think up an explanation for whoever must be here and knowing full well nothing is going to work.

"Going at it like pyjaks?" The deep voice of their only Krogan member rings through the near dead silence of the cargo bay, amusement clear in his expression. "Damn, Shepard. Can't even wait until the Citadel?"

"We're in the middle of something, Krogan." Garrus licks against her sweaty neck with a quick buck of his hips, seeming to not be as bothered by Wrex's presence as she is. She does, however, notice the tightening of his hold on her hip as one hand wraps around her back and pulls her ever closer. "Bother her later," he growls out.

She scowls at Wrex's responding laugh. "I'm not here to get in the middle of your rutting, _Turian_." She can hear the shit-eating grin that's most likely plastered on his face just by his words. "Next time, leave a helmet in the elevator. Much easier that way."

She shakes her head when she starts to hear the heavy footsteps make their way towards the elevator, glad to finally have _that_ experience coming to an end. She can imagine him just at the elevator controls when her husband growls out, catching on to something she hadn't noticed.

"You didn't come down the elevator, Wrex. We would've heard it." To prove his point, the grinding and clanking of the loud lift sounds as it descends.

"What do you know, you're right," the Krogan says, his grin still in his voice as the sounds of his footsteps take a step into the lift. He doesn't elaborate beyond an echoing chuckle as the doors shut and the elevator ascends.

Jane raises a brow and looks down to her purrs husband. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

He nuzzles against her chest, dragging his tongue along her nipple. "Wrex is a Krogan, Jane." He refuses to elaborate as well, choosing to pull her hips closer and jerk up into her with a feral growl, successfully cutting off her protest and pulling a high moan from her lips.

They easily fall back into their rhythm, chasing the high that they had been so close to before their odd interruption. He takes her throat in his mouth, sending his harmonics through the thin barrier of her skin to echo through her own moans and giving them an odd feeling of duality to her vocals. It's an amazing feeling that does the intended job for them both, sending him over the edge and causing her to follow, nearly screaming as she clenches uncontrollably around his pulsing and flexing cock as he fills her.

As she's coming down, he licks softly against the tenderness caused by his teeth. She knows that he didn't break skin and that any sign of his hold will easily fade by morning, but she lets him soothe the nonexistent wound, relishing the fact that his tongue seems to be warming up to his normal temperature.

Seeming to read her mind, Garrus nuzzles against her temple, nibbling lightly at the damp hair, and says, "You know, I think that worked in heating me up." He runs his talons through her hair in attempt to try and calm the tangled curls from the day. "Though I think I may need a repeat or the treatment."

She mock glares at his smirk, but he easily lets her pull off him. She knows that he's only trying to ease the mood from earlier and understands that they can't put themselves into such a predicament if they were to continue their activities. She stands and motions him to lay down, knowing that it is late and, even though they'll be at the Citadel soon, he needs his rest.

"Stay with me," he pleas, pulling her hand and making her drop to site at his side on the edge of his bunk. "You can always leave before shift starts."

She smiles sadly, stroking a hand along his cheek and down his mandible, loving the feeling of him subtly pushing into her hand. "I can't. I have to head up and clean," she motions to between her legs where she's squeezing her legs to make sure none of his fluids escape. "Then I have to make sure we are ready to dock tomorrow with the Citadel, file my report on Noveria with the Council even though I've already spoken with them –don't ask. After all of that, I have to try and find some time to sleep." He rumbles sadly, cupping one of her cheeks and she places her own hand over his. "I wish I could stay with you, Garrus. More than anything."

"I understand." He pulls softly on her face and she lets him drag her down to press his forehead to hers. "Just promise me that you'll get some rest too. Noveria was hard on all of us, not just Liara and I."

She smiles softly and receives a soft purr and mandible quirk in response before she leaves him with a deep and tender kiss. Her fingers lightly stroking up his mandibles as she pulls away and plants a soft pucker against the smooth expanse of plate at her forehead.

"Rest well, my love," she whispers to his rumbling harmonics, pulling away with a final sigh. She leaves, not wanting to give him any more time to try and change her mind because she knows that he's fully capable of convincing her, not that she'd really put up much fight.

~SquigglySquid says: Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all!~


	27. Chapter 26

-Garrus-

When the Normandy arrives at the Citadel, most of the crew are quick to leave the ship to take full advantage of the twenty-four hour leave Jane had granted them. The halls clear at an unnatural speed that's all too typical for military vessels filled with soldiers often sent on missions as tasking as the one they find themselves undertaking.

It is with the assurance of being completely alone that Garrus makes his way to the showers, the sweet voice of his wife singing with the pattering of water leading his footsteps. He slips into the steamy room and softly chuckles of the sight of her, hips swaying softly as she lathers that strange bubbly substance into her hair and lips belting some human song he remembers her often singing in their shower at home.

He leans against the opposite wall, his arms crossed over his chest. "You definitely seem to be enjoying yourself." She squints open one eye with a soft smile before squeezing it back shut and tipping her head into the flow of water. "Though, I'm pretty sure our shower at home still works."

She snorts, the motion doing something spectacular with her breasts that really makes him wish they were home, and finishes up washing the soap from her hair, giving her the chance to finally look to him. "I could, but I have an Asari diplomat to talk to and then I'd like to spend some quality time with my husband."

"I still don't see the problem with _our_ shower." She shuts off the shower and he grabs what he assumes is her towel from the bench between them. He brushes off her hands when she reaches for it, taking the task of drying her into his own hands. "But I guess you getting this over with is for the best because I have a surprise for you."

She raises a brow towards him and he can't help the sly smirk to his mandible as he shakes his head. "I'm afraid you aren't going to get me to tell you." He hands her the towel and takes her brush, running it through her wet hair to pull out the tangles. "Consider this a payback for dragging me all over the galaxy and making me take up the slack on the battlefield."

She scoffs in mock hurt and takes the brush to pull her hair up into a loose shape of what she calls a 'ponytail'. "Listen you… You wanted to come along, so I don't even want to hear anything about my 'dragging you all over the galaxy' and you clearly have your math wrong." She tosses her brush aside and moves to her clothes. "I clearly remember me being ahead on kill count."

Garrus rolls his eyes, the movement not seen as she turns to get dressed. She bends over to step into her underwear and he slaps her ass cheek, mandible flicking in a hard smirk at the high sound of her startled yelp. Without anything in arm's reach to cause any real damage, she throws a shirt back at him, the soft fabric clinging slightly to his twitching mandibles as he laughs.

"God, you're such an ass." She scolds, but the mirth in her voice is obvious enough that he doesn't really need to see the way she tightens her lips to hold back the big smile as she's pulling on her bra. "I don't know how Turians do it, but you're supposed to be nice to someone when their birthday comes around."

He pulls the shirt from his head and smiles. "Then I guess it's good that that wasn't your only present."

Turians don't do much for birthdays and when he and Jane had spoken of customs and cultural differences, she had admitted that she wasn't even that privy to human custom. It's true, he had felt somewhat bad at the look in her eyes when she had explained that birthdays tended to involve a celebration of family and friends and, being that she didn't really have that as a child, she didn't really get to experience it personally.

He had made a silent plan then, many months ago, that when her birthday came, he would try to embrace the concept enough to show her a celebration that could befit a human birthday. _And if it's wrong, odds are neither of us will really be able to tell._

Jane blinks once in silent thought before her brows twist in confusion. "Garrus, that was a joke." She smiles and shrugs dismissively while pulling her pants up. "I'm actually kind of afraid of any 'presents' that comes from a guy whose species' closest thing to a birthday present is a branding."

He growls with frustration and pulls her shirt over her head, letting it hang around her neck until she frees her hands to pull it over herself. "Not the same thing, Jane, and you know it." She smiles and pulls her arms through her sleeves. "Are colony markings are _not_ brands. They're-"

She nods quickly with a warm smile. "I know, I know." Her soft hand raises, her little fingers running over the cobalt paint across his plates, and he purrs deep in his chest as he presses into her touch. "An acid takes off the first layer of plate and then you paint the more porous layer below so that it becomes mostly permanent as the top layer heals back."

With a low rumble, he takes her hand and lays a soft nip at her fingertips, the closest to a human kiss, before releasing her. "You got the basics."

"You think I don't listen?" She huffs slightly and he chuckles at her mock insult.

He takes her clothes and motions her out. "It wouldn't be the first time," he jokes and laughs at the scoff of her reaction, a warm smile coming to his plates as she still takes his hand with hers as they walk to her room.

They get their things for the night packed and head out of the ship with no trouble, even able to stand particularly close as they traversed the decks. Only when they came upon the bridge did they have to pretend again, as the pilot seemed to be permanently attached to his seat, and remain the façade as they traveled through the Academy.

Luckily for him, the distance they had to hold in public wasn't nearly as unbearable as it had been and he knows the reason has everything to do with the fact that once they get a chance to be alone and out of the attentions of the public, they had every opportunity to be themselves. That, and the fact of his big surprise for her birthday that he's been planning since they had saved Terra Nova.

"Alright, here's the plan," Jane says as they await the elevator that rises to the Presidium, her voice pulling him out of his inner musings of later. "We'll go see what the hell this Asari wants, then we'll head home. I called into the Embassy when we were docking and pretty much figured out Udina has his head up his ass." She sighs and crosses her arms, a frown causing a little crease between her brows. "The Alliance has too many leads that they don't know which one is right for us to go after. I figure that we'll give them a bit more time to get their shit together before we're forced to look into each one and hope for the best."

She looks to him with a raised brow, as if asking his opinion, and he shrugs. "Seems like the most logical thing to do. We don't have much choice and no real lead. Either we wait for better information or we take what we got and possibly end up wasting time we could be using chasing down the real leads on Saren."

She nods as the lift slows, her posture shifting back into one of authority. "My thoughts, exactly. This transmission we got that requested our help seemed time-sensitive, so let's hope getting it done will have let the Alliance weed through our options."

They make their way to the Human Embassies and towards the upscale bar within. Sitting at a table off to the side is a single Asari in a long red dress, typical of the many diplomats within the Presidium and walking the Embassy halls. Jane must recognize her, most likely going off of something from whatever message she had received that called her here, and moves to the table, nodding at the woman when she looks up with wide and searching eyes.

Listening to the woman speak, he understands her urgency to speak with Jane. Apparently, her sister was taken hostage by slavers and, in fear, the woman had paid the ransom to see her loved one returned to safety, but she was tricked and her sister remains under imprisonment. She also speaks of the horrible possibility of now finding herself in the custody of C-Sec, the act of negotiating with what the Citadel considers terrorists a crime, one that he absolutely sees no point in, and Jane easily offers to assist.

With knowledge of the mercenary band's location in hand, his wife assures the Asari that they'll find whatever they can on her sister but in truth, he and Jane both know that the possibility of her still being alive is slim. Leaving on the woman's grateful thanks, Garrus leads out of the Embassy and towards the transit, the two more than ready to finally have a chance at some time off.

When they are situated in a cab and heading home, the silence is cut by Jane's soft chuckle. He turns to her with a raised brow, not seeing anything interesting enough to warrant such a response.

She waves his concern and puzzlement off. "It's nothing, just that…" she shifts in her seat to look more towards him, "Was that Asari- Nassana Dantius- familiar to you?" She raises a brow, seeming to be feeding him an answer, but it just leaves him more confused. "Oh, come on… Think! You can't possibly say all Asari look alike, that's racist."

Garrus shrugs. "Jane, I lived on the Citadel for most of my adult life. That's a lot of Asari walking around." The shuttle sets down and they start to climb out. "You're going to have to be more specific."

She smirks and puts a finger to her chin, her exaggeration of when she's trying to think. "Let's see… Oh, I got it." She straightens her back and puts her fists on her hips. "I was sent over here because someone said you were being suspicious." He recognizes the gruff imitation to her voice that she usually uses when she tries to imitate a man, usually someone of authority, but not the words.

When he doesn't respond, still not aware of what she's getting at, she scowls and rubs her hands over her head, disheveling some of her hair so that strands fall into her face. "Well officer, I can assure you that I my drawings aren't anything illicit-"

That, he recognizes from the first time they met. He has a split second to scowl at the obviously unflattering impression of himself she just did, but dismisses it as an instant thought comes to his mind. _It couldn't be…_

"There's no way that's the same woman."

Jane smiles knowingly at his response and taps a soft finger under his chin as they step into the elevator of their complex. "Now you remember. Of course it's 'little miss complaint'. I can remember people," she holds a finger to her left temple, "I'm really good with faces, you know."

Now that he thinks about it, the voice from his memory and the diplomat at the Embassy do match up, something pretty hard to fake or misinterpret for a species that's sensitive to sound like a Turian is. The thought of the coincidence is just too much, though, that it still seems impossible to believe.

She must see his doubt because the next thing he knows, Jane's arms are around his waist as she nuzzles her head against his chest. "It's fine if you want to stick your head in the sand," he looks down with a mock glare and her apparent smile widens, "but I think it's funny."

He wraps an arm around her, walking her out when the elevator doors finally open and leading her to their apartment. "Alright, I'll consider that it may be the same woman, but we need to have a little talk about that impression of yours."

"Whatever could you be talking about?" She raises a brow in silent intrigue and he chuckles.

"For one, I have never stood like that in my life." He finally takes her into his arms once their door closes them off from the rest of the world. "And two, I _do not_ sound like that." He lifts her chin up to look into her emerald eyes, full of the laughter and happiness that he barely ever sees on the Normandy. "So I take offense."

She chuckles softly while raising up on her tip toes. "That so?" He rumbles an affirmative while pressing his forehead to hers. "Then I guess you'll just have to remind me how our first encounter went."

He purrs deeply in his chest and tilts his head, putting him in a better position near her lips. "How about we just skip to the good parts?" he asks, his voice a deep mix of harmonics as he kisses her deeply, their tongues tangling with the soft sound of her responding hum.


	28. Chapter 27

-Jane-

"You know, I'm not the kind of person to go out and watch a romance, but _that_ was actually pretty good." Jane squeezes her husband's hand with her own, pulling a soft chuckle in response.

"I had a feeling that the only movie you'd ever watch that even _remotely_ hinted at something romantic would have to have lots of action sequences to keep you entertained." He looks down to her, a single mandible quirked in silent amusement, and she makes a big deal of rolling her eyes in exasperation.

"Please," she groans with pseudo indignation. "I can be civilized enough not to demand blood and explosions in my entertainment." He snorts at that, but she ignores him. "I can't help it when a Turian produced 'Gone with the Wind' turns out to be interesting." She pokes him on the shoulder playfully and he shrugs his body as if it actually caused him any discomfort with a fake grimace on his face, she knows, but it satisfies her anyway. "And besides, when did you get turn into a big sap?"

He grabs her hand with his free one, soft stroking her finger before letting it go so they can continue on their way. "Since you decided to get a year older and make me feel obligated to take you somewhere nice."

She smirks and nudges her shoulder against his side, making his step falter a bit with the shift in weight. "I didn't _decide_ to get older, you ass… but the dinner and movie _was_nice." She lifts his hand to her mouth a gives it a quick kiss, smiling at the smear of lipstick on his glove that she hopes he won't end up seeing later.

In order for them to be able to go out and feel somewhat less like themselves, they had changed their appearances drastically. She had let her hair down, even straightened with some weird metal contraption and sprayed a temporary color in it, making it look like a dark brown instead of her usual fiery red. She wore a loose hanging blouse and tight pants, which may have been a mistake when considering the amount of slaps to her ass she's been getting. She also caked on enough makeup to make her feel like she was wearing a literal mask of color, but Garrus had assured her otherwise. _For all the good an alien male's opinion on human makeup does_.

For her mate's disguise, Garrus had taken to removing his visor, which had become like a part of his own face and definitely something that would attract unwanted recognition. He wore a casual green outfit, a color she never really imagined him in, but had had her doubts assuaged when he took some silvery paste over his markings. He was almost completely unrecognizable with his trademark blue colony paint covered, but it was worth it as they walked without worry for the first time in a long time.

Seeming to have heard her inner musings, Garrus tightens his hold on her hand and a low rumble rolls from his chest. "It may have been a pain to do, but I think our disguises worked out really well. We got to go out to dinner without you getting recognized – in a human heavy restaurant, no less – and we get to enjoy each other's company outside of our apartment."

She snorts with a smirk pulling at her lips. "And all it took was some ingenuity and lots of makeup on both our parts."

He scoffs, a mandible flicking in a Turian eye roll. "Please, I do not use make-up."

She catches his glance her way and smiles, fluttering her eye lashes enough to get a huff of amusement from him. At that, she shrugs and nudges his shoulder. "Well, whatever you want to call that silvery crap on your face, it worked and I doubt many would be able to pick us out of a line-up as Commander Shepard and Officer Vakarian. Well…not unless they scan our DNA."

"So don't get us arrested and we won't have that problem. I know that may be hard for you."

She scoffs at his smart-ass flick of mandible and smacks a hand across his shoulder lightly. "Look here, you. I am an upstanding citizen."

He nods, clearly not convinced, and motions ahead of them to a large club with a warm mandible lift. "I hear humans are supposed to go out for drinks when they have a birthday. I doubt any of the crew will be this far into the Wards to find this place and notice us. What do you say I continue with the human 'birthday celebrations'?"

"Then I say, let's go get as shit-faced as we can considering that we have duty tomorrow." She waves towards the entrance in a silent 'lead the way.' They both know neither can afford to actually get drunk tonight and put themselves in such a position tomorrow, but it won't hurt to have a single drink or two and enjoy the company in a place that isn't their home or the ship.

They choose a small booth off to the corner of the bar area and she takes a relaxed stance against its surface, overlooking the movement of bodies out across the club while he moves off to grab them some drinks. Jane bobs her head to the pulsing beat, too loud and heavy for any real entertainment value, but she enjoys the dulling aspect it gives. The beat reminds her of her youth and the way she used to distance from reality, the thought actually translating quite well considering that's why she and Garrus are here in the first place, to get away from the hectic nature of their mission.

It's then that a high gasp pulls her out of her inner musings and fills her with the slight dread that she was somehow recognized. "Jane?" That name coming to her ears in a feminine voice startles her even more, the fear of being noticed as the Spectre transforming into one of being remembered for an even more negative reason.

She quickly looks around to see a tanned woman approaching her booth, a wide smile on her face. It takes a moment, but Jane's eyes widen in shock at the sight of a very old friend from her very far away past. She recognizes the slightly tanned skin that she's always been able to maintain without the constant need of sun, the blond hair that's dulled and darkened with age, and the hazel eyes that sift with moods and lighting. Sure, time hasn't been kind from the creases in the woman's obviously tired and worn face, but there is no denying that Jane's looking at her first true friend, Abigail, from the Reds.

"Jane. Oh my God, I barely recognized you!" Jane has a moment to straighten up before Abigail's warm arms wrap around her neck, squeezing tightly around her before shifting to her shoulders to hold her at arm's length, as if examining her.

Jane smiles, a soft chuckle pulling at her lips from the energetic embrace so familiar from her old friend. "It's good to see you too, Aby."

The blond scoffs with a dismissive head shake, but tilts her head with the smile still in her features as she releases her hold. "I never thought I'd see _little Mary Jane_ ever again."

At the usage of her old name from the Reds, Jane groans. "Damn, I almost forgot about that. God, what a horrible nick name."

Abigail chuckles, motioning to the booth in silent question. Jane nods with a wave to the table in open invitation as the woman speaks. "Please, we were strippers. Of course we had bad names." At that, she looks down to the scratched table surface, brushing a hair from her face that drops back behind her ear. "How have things been, Jane?"

Not quite sure how to respond, Jane shrugs. She knows Abigail didn't leave the Reds on good terms to make a better life for herself like she did. Abigail got pregnant from her at-the-time boyfriend, Sid, who sold drugs for the Reds. The two had seemed like they were in love, but Jane isn't naive enough to hope it lasted when considering the circumstances or the current look on her old friend's face.

Seeming to see the hesitance in her response, Abigail shrugs herself with a sigh. "I saw you on the news when you became a Spectre, but I didn't really believe it." She smiles and though it looks forced, the woman seems to be opening up a bit. "No offense, Jane, but I don't think anyone could really imagine you becoming as great as you are."

Jane snorts a single depreciative laugh, waving off the comment. "Jesus, don't say that shit. Last thing I need is for the woman who showed me the ropes back in the Reds to start." That gets a more genuine smile from Abigail's lips and Jane decides to help change the subject off of herself. "How are things with you?"

She smiles, her face looking more like the youthful woman Jane remembers. "Things are good. I got a job at Huerta cleaning up patient rooms and I hope to be able to go into schooling to become a nurse. Jonathan is going to school here on the Citadel." She huffs a soft laugh. "I honestly think someone must have given me the wrong baby all those years ago, he's so smart. I feel like an absolute fool when I try to help him with his homework." Jane smiles when the woman's hazel eyes meet her own, giving a slight nod in offer to continue. "I actually thank whatever greater power there is that he was born because I can't imagine where I would be without him."

"That's great." Jane sees Garrus start to make his way over from the opposite end of the bar, a tilt to his head in silent question and she nods in an okay to approach, figuring their conversation won't take much longer by the time he makes it through the crowd. "You definitely look happier."

"It's still nice to see someone from my past," she says, her eyes creasing with happiness. "Especially someone that meant so much to me as you did, Jane. I still remember when I had to show you around Heaven's Night and taught you everything I knew." She smirks, a single dark eyebrow lifting. "You still have that book you liked to draw in? You know, the one with all the naked pictures."

Jane's mouth drops in mock embarrassment. "Aby! They were not _naked pictures_, they were art."

"Uh huh," she says, that mock condescending attitude Jane remembers from her past seeping through. Then, she leans forward, whispering lowly over the table. "Do you still have those of me and Sid?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Jane smirks, getting a huff of disappointment from the blond, but sees right through to the smile pulling at her lips. "Yes, I still have them. You did a lot for me when I was a kid, so of course I was going to keep the only thing that reminded me of you."

Abigail laughs, the high sound bringing back good memories of when the two would gossip and share stories backstage before a show. "If I didn't know you better I would have to worry about you." The woman looks around the club before her eye meet back with Jane's. "What do you say we get out of here? Nathan is at a friend's house for the weekend, so what do you say we catch up at my place?"

Jane blinks rapidly, confused at the woman's bluntness, but quickly composes herself when she remembers that the last time Abigail knew her, Jane was a different person. She looked at sex as a trivial matter and like an itch that could be scratched by whoever she found. It's been so long since she's thought that way- even before she met Garrus- that she almost forgot she had ever acted so idiotically.

"I'm sorry, Aby," Jane admits with a sad smile, "but I'm not like that anymore." It is at that awkward moment that Garrus finally makes it to the table, setting her drink down before her, that things fall into place for Abigail, making her eyes widen with sudden realization.

"Oh!" she proclaims, shifting her body so that she sits straighter in her seat. "I'm so sorry. Here I was so excited to see someone from the old days that I didn't even pay attention to the obvious." She grabs her blushing cheeks and bites her lip in her old habit of embarrassment.

Jane holds a hand up to try and calm her friend's explanation. "It's an easy mistake." She takes Garrus' hand and smiles softly at the low purr in response. "I wouldn't have expected it either, to be honest." Her husband lifts a brow plate, obviously confused just why she's decided to talk about her marriage with what he sees is probably a complete stranger, and she motions across the table with her free hand. "Garrus, this is Abigail, an old friend." She turns to Abigail, now slightly more composed as she drops her hands with a soft smile. "Aby, this is Garrus, my husband."

Jane has to hand it to her, for a woman who just got turned down in a really awkward way, Abigail politely offers her hand in greeting with great dignity and poise. For his part, Garrus doesn't make a fuse over the uncustomary greeting and instead takes her hand, giving it a quick shake before letting it go.

"It's so nice to meet you, Garrus." He responds in the like before she pulls herself from the booth. "I'm so happy to have had a chance to see you again, Jane. You truly are an amazing person, both for what you do and how much you have overcome." She pulls Jane into a hug. "There are no words for how happy I am to see how you have changed for the better." She cups Jane's cheeks with a warm smile. "You look so much happier now than I think I ever saw you."

With a quick hug again, Abigail finally lets Jane go and turns to Garrus. "You take good care of her, you understand?" He rumbles an affirmative and gets jerked into a hug, his stunned expression and stiff posture only seen by Jane, who tries to hold in her laughter. "Take care, Jane," Abigail says as she takes off into the crowd of the club, her back disappearing into the numerous moving figures.

"Who was that?" Garrus turns to her as she takes a sip from her drink, a smile pulling at his mandibles.

Jane shakes her head with her own smile. "One of the few good people from my past." He tilts his head and she grabs his free hand with hers. "I'll tell you about it later, when we get home."

He nods in acceptance, taking a drink from his glass and easily changing the subject to something more insignificant. They take their time to finish their drinks, enjoying the company and sense of quiet without actual lack of noise that the bustling club gives them.


	29. Chapter 28

-Jane-

Jane gradually wakes up to the sensation of her head and upper body gently rising and falling, her body tensing in confusion before she remembers she's not on the Normandy and relaxes back down. She lets her weight shift lazily against the shifting plates of her mate's chest as he breathes deeply in and out, nuzzling into the warm carapace below her cheek and gentle hand tangled in her hair.

She cracks open an eye, taking in the haphazard positon they- quite literally- fell into after their rigorous 'exercise' last night. He lies diagonally across their bed, half of the pillows thrown onto the floor, with his head hanging off of the edge of the bed at an angle that makes her cringe at the kink he's sure to have today and causes a gravelly rumble to erupt from his throat. His legs are piled up on the last remaining pillows that remain on the bed, leaving them higher than his heavier top half, and she's pretty sure he'd be on the ground with the rest of their bedding if it wasn't for her own body collapsed over his.

_Speaking of which,_ she groggily thinks as her own body starts to wake up, sending her fuzzy mind sensations as to her own situation. She's all but laying on Garrus, apparently not caring at the fact that she slept the entire night with his keel bone pressed uncomfortably into her right boob. She's straddling one of his raised legs with her own and her calf has somehow found its way wedged and at an odd angle between his spur and knee; however the hell it got that way, she'll never know.

She notices her left arm is tingling with numbness and tries to move it, finding it pinned under her a massive plated shoulder. The motion stirs her husband and she feels his fingers in her hair twitch before a rumbling groan echoes through their disheveled bedroom.

"What's wrong?" His utter confusion and sluggish shift off her arm makes her chuckle. She gives him a moment to wake up a bit, never needing quite as much time as she does in the morning but obviously enough to remember just what got them in this situation. "Oh… damn, Jane. What the hell happened to our bed?"

She laughs, not caring how it jars her tender breast against the jut of his chest. "_You_happened." She shifts enough so that he can pull himself onto the bed enough to not have his head at the uncomfortable angle, laying against his side with her head on his shoulder. "I believe it all started when we were finishing up our drinks and I made the joke about dancing and how the last time you refused to dance with me was when you told that hilarious story and 'reach and flexibility.'"

His chest rises and falls with an exaggerated sigh. "I told you, I never said that." She feels his talon card through her hair. "I remember the conversation _and_ the challenge that you could match me."

Jane snorts, clearly remembering the less than serious sparring they had. "You play dirty, Vakarian. There's no way pinning a girl down and eating her out is a legitimate submission technique."

He chuckles and nuzzles against her scalp, the prongs of his mandible flicking in her hair. "I don't know… It worked quite well for me. Though, I wouldn't say you reciprocating was all that legal, either, _Vakarian_."

She raises over him with a smile on her lips. "Damn right it wasn't." She kisses him slowly, savoring the lingering tastes of last night on both of their tongues. She can feel him, eager and ready against her thigh, and it sends a surge of liquid heat from her scalp to her feet, but she knows they don't have the time for even the fastest of encounters.

As if to cement her thought, their Omni-Tools ring in unison a warning that their time of shore leave is running low. Garrus is first to pull his tongue from her hold, his lip plates leaving her lips suddenly cold in the bedroom's air, and purrs softly as he nuzzles his ridged forehead to hers. "I guess that means it's back to work."

She sees the saddened flick of mandible and quirks her lips in sympathy, completely sharing in his reluctance to want to go back to the separation they made for themselves. "I think I hate Saren."

He huffs a laugh. "And why is that?"

"Because I don't want to get up." Despite her jab, they both shift to start their routine of getting dressed and ready to head back to the ship. If they're lucky, they can grab breakfast on the way to the ship and won't have to suffer through whatever the Normandy can offer to fill their bellies. "Call Saren and tell him to stop being such a douche."

"Aren't you supposed to hate him because he attacked Eden Prime, has an army of Geth, and is threatening all of the Galaxy by trying to bring back the Reapers?" She can see his raised brow plate before she slips her shirt over her head, but refuses to answer after catching the glimmer of smirk on his face.

She turns to hide the smirk on her lips at his huff when she doesn't fall for his goading and bends to grab her underwear from the floor when two large hands all but shove her face first into the ground. She yelps and reddened at her husband's hearty laugh, his fingers tightening to grope her ass.

She swings the only thing she has, her panties, back at him in effort to ward him away. "Hey, jack ass! My ass is not a toy, you can't just fondle me whenever the hell you please." He lets her rise up, but his hands remain, stroking and gripping as he purrs into her ear. "What is it with my ass, any ways?"

He finally wraps an arm around her front and pulls her to his chest, a warm thrum vibrating into her back. "It's just so different. Turians don't have all this cushion, so it's… interesting." He shifts and cups her breasts through her shirt, pulling an undignified squeak at his sudden shift at which he chuckles. "Like these, though I can't sneak an ass grab or a slap easier than I can on your breasts. And you're so responsive either way."

"You're so weird," she says with an eye roll. "I never knew you'd have a fetish for my squishy parts."

She feels his shrug before he steps away, letting her get back to her dressing. "Who knows how long it'll be until I get to touch you again? I just wanted to get it all out of my system now."

She snorts, but understands the sentiment. She's found herself content just stroking her fingers along his mandibles or fringe at times, running her fingers along the plating of his fingers or her toes along his digitigrade feet, running her hands over his pronounced keel, and even pressing her ear to his chest to hear his dual toned harmonics. After being together as long as they have, the curiosity seems to have changed into a special form of reverence that even their own species tend to overlook because of familiarity.

Considering that, his fascination something that is so different from himself isn't all that odd, but certainly frustrating when he insists on being an unbearable ass about it. Perhaps she should test the theory that he probably does it _because_ he gets a reaction from her, but definitely _not_ during their tour.

Dressed and with no time to waste to get back to the ship, they lock up the apartment and head to C-Sec Academy. Jane makes sure to grab a mix of chocolate powder from the cabinets at home and insists on stopping at a shop on the way, knowing that if she needs at least a little bit of caffeine into her system if she expects to fall back into her 'Commander Shepard' persona. She also doesn't want to be held responsible if she doesn't get her morning coffee and she finds herself in a 'diplomatic situation.'

Coffee in hand, the two ride the central elevator of the Academy down to the main level. Garrus holds her overnight bag as she pours the powder into her drink, swirling it around and humming at the strong smell of the brew and the sweet hints of the melting chocolate. "Did I ever tell you I loved the smell of coffee?"

"Yet you hate the taste of it," he grunts at her back and she smiles at the obvious confusion.

She takes her bag from his grip as the lift starts to slow, throwing it over her shoulder. "What can I say?" She smirks around her slightly pursed lips that blow cooling air over her cup. "Humans are strange that way."

With a smirk and head shake, he lets out a quick chuckle before the doors slide open. "I think that's only you, Commander," he says, his 'Officer Vakarian' persona matching up with her Commander.

She shrugs and heads off towards the lift that'll take them to the docks, still not quite sure why their trip always has _so many_ elevators just to get to where they need to go. Most of the ground crew seem to be waiting around the lobby, probably waiting until the last possible moment before they have to _officially_end their shore leave.

Unfortunately, Jane is halted on her way by a tall, dark skinned woman in a long blue and gold dress who waves them over. Jane lifts a brow and looks over her shoulder to Garrus in a silent question, but he just shrugs in equal confusion, giving her no choice but to approach the woman. _And before I even got to drink my damn coffee._

"Khalisah bint Sinan Al-Jilani, Westerlund News." _Whatah bint what whaty? Did my translator just glitch?_ Though Jane flusters over the reporters name, she does somewhat recognize the news group. She can't quite place it, but she does think she remembers the name, or something similar, when she would watch the holoscreen on her long shore leaves waiting on Garrus to get out of work.

"Would you answer a few questions for our viewers?" the woman asks with a motion towards the hovering camera over her shoulder and pulling Jane out of her inner thoughts.

Jane makes a show of looking to her gathered crew, which have seen their Commander arrive and are now interested in who has stopped her approach. "Look Miss Al-Jilani, I don't really have the time-"

"People back home have heard a lot of wild stories about you, Commander," the reporter cuts in with an air of superiority. She lifts a thin brow with a sly smirk. "I can give you the chance to set the record straight. What do you say?"

Despite the woman's clear lack of respect for anyone but herself, Jane does see a point in playing nice with the media, even though she absolutely despises the thought. With a stern pout to her lips, she nods with an obvious glance to the hovering camera. "I'll answer your questions. So long as you understand that any information of my current mission is classified and you may be left without a lot of the answers you're looking for."

"Oh, I'm sure our viewers will understand." She looks down to her Omni-Tool and the machine at her shoulder flickers to animated life, a bright light shining over Jane and making her eyes squint as her eyes quickly adjust. "Humans have been trying to get the respect of the galactic community for twenty-six years." She looks up with a smile, the gesture familiar from the usual mock expression so many figures on the screen use. "With that in mind, what are your feelings on being the first human Spectre?"

Figuring that whatever she says will most likely piss someone off somewhere no matter how hard she tries to seem civil, she tries to keep as much of her own attitude out of the answer. "Spectres are the best of the best, so I think it's about time that humanity found a way to get one of its own in the ranks. I'm honored to be the one to break the mold."

"Some have said that your appointment into the Spectres in the Council 'throwing humans a bone." Jane lifts a brow at that, wondering just where this woman is going. "Have you encountered any situations where the Council has asked you to place the Citadel's needs before that of Earth?"

_What the hell kind of question is that?_ "You _do_ know what the point of a Spectre is, right?" she asks with a scowl at the corner of her lips. _Damn, it. I'll probably never hear the end of this._ "My _job_ and appointment into the Spectres is to show that humanity can work _with_ the other races. You really think we're going to get a seat on the Council if we go around telling people they should think of themselves first?"

"You really do believe that, don't you?" Al-Jilani shakes her head subtly, not enough for an untrained eye to catch, but still visible to the soldiers of Jane's team that have formed a group around the spectacle unfolding. Jane's surprised to see that even Kaidan and Ashley seem to agree with her, if their frowns at the reporter and William's crossed arms are anything to go by.

"You've been given command of an advanced human warship for your missions." Jane turns her attention back to the woman, now fully aware of where she's seen this arrogant face from. She is starting to regret accepting the interview when she starts to think back to some of the stories she's seen this woman slander people with. "Is there anything you'd like to say about this ship, Commander?"

Deciding to go back to stating the facts, Jane gives a slight shake of her head to the incorrect information. "Though most of the Normandy's specs are classified, I can tell you that your information is wrong. The Normandy was a joint project of Turian and human design."

Seeming to see a crack in which the woman can weed into her response, Jane sees a condescending smile cross the reporter's face. "So the Turians have knowledge of the Normandy that is being kept secret from the Alliance public?" Her crew reacts from eye rolls, to shaking of heads, and an insulted head jerk from her own mate. "Do you think it was appropriate to hand Earth's most advanced warship over to the Citadel?"

Jane crosses her arms. "Just because I'm a Spectre doesn't mean I'm not Alliance. The Normandy wasn't _handed over_ to anyone. I command it, I say where it flies, end of story."

Al-Jilani holds up her hands in a sorry attempt at all real gesture of apology. "No offense intended, Commander Shepard. I'm sure you have to follow the orders of your superiors." She smiles, the thin line of her lips twisting into a sickly curve. "Of course, now your superiors are aliens. Just one more question. Rumors back home say you're tracking a 'rogue Spectre' named Saren. Do you have any comment on that?"

Jane shakes her head. "Look, I don't have all day to 'alien this' and 'alien that' with you." She nods to her crew in silent command before looking back to the woman. "That should be enough for your story, Miss Al-Jilani. I have a job to do," she steps around the woman, "excuse me."

The reporter has not had her fill, apparently, as she rushes behind. Jane shakes her head, trying to will to the woman that the interview was _over, damn it._ "There are rumors that before you were assigned to the Normandy, you were seen on the Citadel with a Turian." If she didn't recognize the reporter from her holo viewing, she _would_ have taken the bait, but as it is, she knows Al-Jilani is merely fishing. "Could it be that your posting into the Spectres was because you have proven you can work alongside other species? Are you unable to catch Saren because_he's_ the Turian you were seen with on the Citadel? Have you found yourself 'in bed with the enemy'?"

"That's it!" At that, Jane swings around and punches the woman with all her force. Al-Jilani falls to the ground with a high and feminine grunt. "You can try and paint me as an alien sympathizer. You can try and make me say I'd put aliens before humans. You can try and make me look like an idiot. Hell, you can even talk shit about my personal life," she points an accusing finger into the reporters face, a snarl in her lips, "but don't you fucking _dare_ question my competence to complete my mission."

With a final shove to the woman's shoulder as she tries to stand, Jane leaves, leading her group into the elevator. She jabs the lift command with still pent up anger, seething. A rumbling laugh finally pulls her out of her dark cloud and she blinks, looking around at the various expressions in the lift.

Wrex slaps a hand on her back, his laugh dying. "Good one, Shepard. I would probably have just shot her."

"I think Al-Jilani would have preferred a bullet to your fist, Wrex." Alenko shifts back to one foot, his arms crossed with a soft chuckle. "Would've been less painful."

"Keelah," Tali huffs with a shake of her head, her eyes to the floor. "That woman was such a Bosh'tet." Liara nods in silent agreement.

Garrus flicks a mandible with a tilt of his head. "But that does bring up the question." He looks to her eyes, their gazes connecting for a split moment that zeroes out the rest of the lift's occupants, and she sees the amusement that usually comes before a smart-ass comment. "Saren, Commander? Why weren't we told?"

She shrugs in a 'what can you do?' motion. "What can I say? I love a guy who'll kill me as soon as fuck me." Wrex, Ashley, and Garrus laugh, the obvious half of her crew that share in a similar marine's sense of humor as herself, while they others either shake their heads or blush in embarrassment for the group.

Williams nudges her with an elbow. "When I said 'kiss a Turian' I didn't think you already had that covered, Skipper." Wrex laughs particularly loud at that and Jane glares at him, shooting daggers in silent threat to _keep your trap shut, Wrex, or so help me you'll have one less quad_.

Luckily for her, they reach the dock before more of them can jab at her less-than-eloquent way of dealing with the press. They all pile out of the elevator and she corrals her team of juveniles onto the ship, wondering how she found herself in command of such a peculiar bunch.

Just as quickly as their mirth started, they all easily fall back into their duties once the airlock doors admit them on deck. She makes her way to the CIC and steps up to the Galaxy Map and sets course for their destination, the intention of helping an Admiral in need ringing through her head as she becomes Commander Shepard.

"Joker, set course for the Voyager Cluster." She leans over the railing as the map zooms into the stated star cluster. She waves a hand over the interface, searching for the coordinates Kahoku sent her last night in his message. "We're heading to Binthu in the Yangtze System."

"Aye, ma'am. Planet of toxic clouds and acid rain…" He must be reading from his terminal before him. "Would it be too early to ask for shore leave?" She smirks at his remark, but knows he needs no response as the ship shifts as it detaches from the dock to begin its journey.


	30. Chapter 29

-Garrus-

"Tell us again what we know about Cerberus?" Gunnery Chief Williams' voice raises over a particularly loud bang from the Mako, a sound that has Garrus cringing at the implications of what he should expect once he gets a look back on the ship.

"Not much." Jane rockets over a large outcropping, their bodies floating in their harnesses a split second before slamming back into their seats with shared grunts. "Just that their some kind of Alliance black ops that went rouge, is probably responsible for fucking around with Maws and possibly doing freaky genetic shit in their secret hideouts."

Garrus growls at the idea of this, both personally for his wife because of Akuze and for others that may have fallen victims to whatever illegal experiments they seem to be doing now. "How come no one's taken them out yet?" Ashley's pained grunt from another jump is laced with agreement as it reaches their ears from her position at the guns.

"Apparently there's no proof to pin anything on them, but Admiral Kahoku seemed convinced." The tank comes to a slow roll and Jane looks to him with a raised brow. He nods, affirming that they are at the first research outpost according to the coordinates sent to them by the Admiral. "And he said they were after him, so that's good enough for me."

Williams nods in understanding and silent agreement as they unhook their harnesses and collect their gear. They all make sure to take their helmets, knowing their breathers will help to fight the toxic chemicals in the air and to protect against the threatening storm on the horizon should it decide to change course for their direction.

From the scans that both the Normandy and the tank were able to offer, the facilities seem small and hopefully quite straightforward to clear out, though he doesn't acknowledge that hope for fear of jinxing the circumstances. As Jane leads the team forward, they find the downward tunnel and entrance room clear of any signs, so they move forward.

"Commander, life signs past the door," he whispers as his visor picks up numerous blips in the next room.

Jane nods to him and slows approaches the door, her footsteps abnormally quite considering the heavy boots she's wearing. When the doors slide open, the expected sound of shouts and gunfire do not sound, instead they hear a soft buzzing of energy.

Jane holds a hand up over her shoulder and he and Williams let her lengthen the space between them as she investigates, but still keeps her in his sights should she suddenly need cover fire. He motions with his head towards some crates in a silent assurance that their Commander is covered and the Chief takes position behind them with a soft nod of understanding.

He's surprised the woman seems to be falling into sync with them considering they haven't been on the best of terms, the last time he even talked to her alone almost ending in an all-out brawl, but it seems he was wrong about her. She seems to be able to put differences aside when she's on duty, a quality that seems to be hard to find in the human Alliance.

Even though he isn't technically supposed to have overheard about it, he thinks she would've been better off having been born a Turian. She wouldn't have had to suffer the injustice the Alliance put on her and her family because of a mistake of her ancestor. Why humans seem to carry out punishments beyond the point of sense, he will never know.

He notices Jane rush quickly up to a terminal before the pulsing blue barrier, its contents blurred from the radiating energy and unable to be discerned from his position. She locks eyes first with Williams, then himself, before nodding with a smirk and flashing her fingers over the console.

She bolts back to their position slamming her back against a metal column as he follows, the barrier flickering rapidly before dropping completely. Loud screams echo through the room, unnatural and piercing, and his eyes widen in disbelief, his mouth opening in shock, as his brain rattles around for an explanation.

"What the fuck are those things?!" Ashley cries out as she fires, taking out a panicked Cerberus officer that must have been beyond the containment fields.

Jane throws a blind grenade around the corner, the sound of screeching combining with the blast. "_Those_ are Rachni, my friend."

He rounds the corner, lining up a quick shot and causing one of the creatures' insectoid head to blast into an indistinguishable splatter. "Now there's one less," he huffs to Jane with a low growl when he drops back into their cover, causing her to snort.

Glowing blue with energy, Jane swings out of cover and lifts the remaining forces into the air, two human bodies and one smaller Rachni falling limp with lose of gravity. Taking his cue like they've always done, he swings out of cover and lines up his shot. He ignores the Chief's elimination of the Rachni and its weightless corpse, lining up the two humans as they drift in position and pulls the trigger.

He lowers the rifle to the sound of a high whistle, a flick of mandible flashing over his features before he fights it back down. He looks over his shoulder to his amused mate, her red brow quirked in amusement. "Damn, Vakarian. Two for one? Who you trying to impress?"

_You_, he inwardly quips, but resolves to shrug and place his hand lovingly on his rifle. "What can I say, Commander? I think the saying is, 'when you got it, flaunt it'?"

The reverberating laugh of his two female companions echo through the metal room surrounded rock and dirt. Jane pats his shoulder with a nod as if she's not impressed and moves further in the room to explore the terminals and crates for anything of use while Williams just shakes her head with an eye roll, moving to cover the other side of the room.

Their only useful bit of information is some more coordinates of facilities on the planet, so they quickly pile back into the Mako. Though she may not have said anything more, he knows she found something else on the terminal if the quick look of panic that crossed her features was anything to go by. He would have missed it if he wasn't so used to recognizing her expressions and he knows that the Chief didn't catch it before his wife shoved her barriers back over her emotions.

He's also sure it is most likely the cause for her even more dangerous handling of the Mako as he grips the console before him. He silently thanks the fact that she had let him requisition harnesses for the nonhuman crew, even if its hold seems less than secure when put against her newest driving techniques.

A large drop pulls a grinding from below their feet and echoes through the walls, barely covering the loud curse from the Gunnery Chief at her post. "Damn, Skipper. It may be a damn tank, but it's not invincible."

Jane takes said tank into a spin, the undercarriage squealing as the tires grind in the dirt and brakes slam against metal in its skid. The body shakes from the momentum as the Make finally comes to a stop, Garrus and Ashley both panting at the adrenaline from the anticipated flip that never came.

"Jesus Christ, you two," Jane scoffs, unlatching her harness and moving to their gear rack. "It was just a little turn."

Garrus is first to recover, approaching and taking his offered helmet as an unamused laugh barks out from the Chief. "Remind me to get whatever dictionary defines _that_ as a turn." Ashley takes her helmet and shakes her head to clear it before slipping it on. "Really glad Liara warned me not to eat breakfast today," her voice says over their connected comm.

The tank hatch opens and Jane instinctively raises an arm before her helmeted head when the soft hiss hits their ears. "Damn," she huffs as she drops her arm, "should've known 'acid rain' would also mean 'acid mist'." She hops down, muttering, "Stupid ass planet."

The second facility is much like the first, layout and enemy-wise, so they approach it the same way with Ashley and Garrus taking cover while Jane sneaks ahead and unleashes whatever horror the idiot Cerberus team decided to work on. Turns out that when the walls go down, a shrill shriek from his wife echoes through the room along with a loud crash.

He looks out, Williams already opening fire, to see his wife quickly bolt to his cover with a guilty smile on her face. Half of the room is in shambles as the crates were thrown at everything, living and not, and he can only assume from the smears of green along the floor and walls that she found herself face-to-face with the Rachni that she claims remind her of 'roaches'.

With an amused growl, he Overloads one of the techs that are preoccupied with one of the remaining insects, sending the man into little spasms of pain. He takes sight and neutralizes the commando at the tech's back, leaving the tech to fall to the shotgun fire of his mate when she peers out of the opposite end of their cover.

This fight ends faster than the other, probably because of Jane's panicked biotics, and he moves to the far terminal and the others take one of their own. With suspicion that this facility may have more information on whatever it is that had her worried earlier, he quickly hacks into the data and calls her over when he gets something.

Her eyes scan quickly over the screen before her brow furrows once and her lips thin. "Good job," she nods sharply. "Williams, Vakarian, move out. They have Kahoku."

He growls lowly in sympathetic understanding, finally realizing why she was so upset and determined to get here, and follows her as she all but rushes back to the Mako. Neither of the three bother to unlatch their helmets as they strap into the seats, knowing full well that the effort to wipe the acid residue from their armor in order to safely be without them will take too long if they can hope to find the Admiral in time.

The tank is quiet as Jane seems to push it beyond its limits, the only noise the mechanical grinding and twisting of abused metal. His own twisting stomach goes ignored and his protests over the Mako's treatment and what it may mean for his work back on the Normandy go unacknowledged as he works to lead her in the straightest path to their destination.

The last facility they reach is filled with a tense air as they enter, the silence seeming to stick to their bodies and weigh down their muscles with building adrenaline and anticipation. He isn't surprised when Jane decides to go against their two previous approaches and orders them to go in 'guns blazing' and doesn't really blame her.

They rush into the room and fan out to cover all possible escape, Williams going wide with her assault rifle as he takes Jane's side to cover those she can't reach with her shotgun and biotics. Her body glows with power and energy, a soft buzz hitting his ears and the dull ache of pressure change hitting him even through his armor, as she throws, lifts, warps, and slams bodies around the room, incapacitating their foes so he and Ashley can finish them off.

When the Cerberus officers all lay motionless, he turns to the barrier, a soft fizzling echoing across the room, and nods in understanding when she motions him towards the terminal. As he bypasses the lock to drop the barrier, Williams comes to his wife's side, her gun raised in anticipation for what may be another Rachni set loose.

What is revealed when the barrier drops is more shocking, as they are rushed by a small group of humanoid shapes. The air is drowned in their smell, an odd mix of plant, dirt, blood, and acid, and they lurch towards their position on wobbly legs.

The approaching creatures are lifted into the air to float as each of them open fire, easily dropping the last remaining evidence of whatever sick things these idiotic Cerberus operatives were doing. Noticing a motionless form that registers a small and wavering beat on his visor, Garrus lays a hand on Jane's heaving shoulder, drawing her attention, and nods towards it. Her eyes widen in realization and she rushes forward, dropping to her knees beside it as her Omni-Tool lights up.

"You should go help the Commander," he says to Williams. "I don't know anything about human first aid." A lie, but worth it so as not seem like an order since they are supposed to be equal subordinates. She doesn't need to know that this is him stepping up to cover for the one time his wife's Commander persona slips from the fear of failing someone she shares an odd sense of familiarity with.

Surprisingly, Williams seems to understand, nodding with a firm look in her eyes. "Right. Go check the terminals in case there's anything the Commander can use against these bastards."

Collecting information on a fourth facility, on a separate planet within a separate system, and the terminal fries just as he transfers the data. Luckily, he is able to send the location to the Normandy as the failsafe activates and he smirks in satisfaction before turning to his sqaudmates, taking in his mate as she injects an adrenaline shot into the limp Admiral.

"Chakwas says this should help to get him onto the ship where she can help him. Joker's on his way." She takes one arm over her shoulder and Williams does the same on the Admiral's other side. "Let's get him out of here and to the Normandy. I'm not losing and Admiral to these fucking bastards."

She stumbles, her body trembling from her overuse of biotics, and Garrus easily takes the man's arm from his wife. He expects her to protest, but figures that she's too preoccupied with getting the man to the medbay to care and he even gets a nod in thanks from the Chief. She must see how worked up Jane is and her own brows are drawn down in concern for the Admiral, so his own concern for Jane goes unnoticed as anything more than a simple offer to assist.

When they make it out to the tank, the Normandy is thankfully within range to pick them up and it takes no time before they are docked back in the cargo bay as Chakwas rushes the unconscious man to the medbay for treatment. As the lift raises to the upper level, he hears a soft thud of helmet on metal floor and deep exhale as Jane finally seems to drop her shoulders in release.

"You okay, Skipper?"

Jane nods, looking up to the plated ceiling and groaning, "God… that was a horrible mission." Garrus rumbles in assent as his pulls his own helmet off, placing it beside his weapons in his locker that'll also need to be wiped down to remove the planet's corrosive residue.

Quiet falls over the cargo hold as he and Williams strip their armor, Jane leaning against the tank's cool side in what he knows to be her effort to calm her overheated body from the biotic flow. He overhears Jane and Ashley's parting goodbye as the Chief makes her way to 'grab some grub' and soon, he's left alone with nothing but the sound of the ascending elevator and her soft chuckle.

He turns to her with a raised brow plate and she shrugs. "Sorry, just thinking about the fact that we'll have to repaint our armors. Our _new_ armors." She kicks her helmet with a frown. "I just got those requisitioned when we were on the Citadel and not they look like shit."

He walks up to her, bends to pick the abused helmet up, and hands it to her with a flick on mandible. "I think you need to go eat. You're exhausted and talking about painting armor like we should care what we look like when we're getting shot at."

She pouts out her lip with a soft huff. "I _liked_ that armor. I look good in dark colors…and so do you, if I do say so." She pokes him in the chest, but soon drops the forced smile with a sigh. "You're right. I'm exhausted, I overworked my amp that I think I need a new interface, I overused my biotics, I think I twisted an ankle, my head hurts, I'm hungry-"

He chuckles and puts a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "Then what are you doing down here?"

"I'm afraid of going up there and having Chakwas tell me that Kahoku didn't make it."

He growls in understanding, kicking himself for not seeing it. "Jane," he starts softly. "You did everything you could and Chakwas knows what she's doing. He'll make it." He lifts her chin and purrs with a soft press of forehead to forehead. "And tomorrow, we'll go after this fourth base and take care of it once and for all."

She smiles weakly. "You're awfully optimistic."

"Why wouldn't I be? With you leading the team, Cerberus would be insane to_not_ be worried tomorrow." That finally gets a small huff of air, but he'll take it and he lets her go with a soft nudge towards the lift. "Now go get yourself out of your armor and get some food before you drop."

"And you?" she asks with hopeful eyes.

It's a common occurrence now that whenever the entire ground team in on the ship around the time of usual mess call, they all try to eat together. It started with her demanding it as a means of bonding for those not on ground missions and a way to bypass the three man squad setup to get everyone comfortable with each other and turned into something less forced and more looked forward to by everyone.

With that in mind and looking forward to the opportunity to spend more time with her, even if in the company of others, he nods with a warm thrum. "Of course, I'll be there once I get cleaned up."


	31. Chapter 30

-Jane-

The moment the doors slide shut at her back, Jane finally releases the breath she feel like she's been holding since showering the sulfuric residue of Binthu from her body. She closes her eyes and thinks back, picking apart everything the doctor had just told her in the medbay.

_"He'll recover," Chakwas says, "but there's no saying the extent the neurotoxin had on his finer motor functions."_ A simple, but deadly prognosis for a soldier.

The doctor had assured that he had feeling in his limbs, so- by whatever dumb luck she seemed to be so short of- he _would_ be able to walk, but what good was that if he couldn't hold a gun steady? If he couldn't find himself steady enough to be trusted out on the field?

When Jane had spoken with the Admiral on the Citadel and gave him the horrible news of his lost men, she could see the kind of soldier Kahoku was. He wasn't one to rise the ranks just to sit behind a desk and send out orders while his subordinates worked. She could easily see that he was the kind of leader to be in the thick of it right alongside his men.

It was that that makes Chakwas' news so difficult to hear. Yes, the Admiral had been awake enough to make a weak remark of it being time for him to consider retirement, but was it really that easy? Could someone just stop being who they had been for so long? What would she do if she suddenly found herself less than what she had grown so accustomed to? What would she do with herself if she lost her strength to do the simple tasks that make her her?

She's pulled from the whirlwind of her thoughts by a loud cheer of a televised crowd coming from the mess area. She had almost forgotten that Kaidan and Ashley had laid claim to the vidscreen in the mess to watch a biotiball tournament.

Pushing herself off the medbay doors and heading around the corner, she barely misses a flash of blue across the screen that makes Ashley throw her hands in the air with a groan of frustration. "Oh, come one! The ref is so blind!"

Kaidan smiles and, noticing Jane approaching, nods in silent greeting. "Just face it Ash, you never bet against the 'Blue Beauties' when they're on their home turf."

Williams huffs a dismissive laugh at the Lieutenant and turns to Jane. "Hey, Skipper. Up for some chili tonight?"

"Chili?" Confused, Jane's brows draw down and she can't help but look around the mess.

With a knowing smile, Ashley leads Jane towards the small heating unit of the mess hall. "Yeah, turns out the LT knows how to cook. Who knew?" They come to a big pot, a strong smell of seasonings wafting into the air and Jane can't hold back the pleased hum. "See? Smells good, right?"

"We figured that with the game, we could use something close to actual food." Kaidan started pulling down trays from the cabinets. "This was the best I could do with what we had on board. Not quite like I remember, but it's better than MREs."

"You got that right," Williams quips with a nudge to Jane's shoulder.

It was all very suspicious, even when considering they might be trying to cheer her up after seeing her go into the medbay to check on the Admiral. She narrows her eyes at both, scanning from one to the other, but neither falters under her scrutiny, simply continuing on with the task of dishing out plates for themselves and others. "Alright, what the hell?"

The nonchalant shrugs of the two don't help to alleviate her doubts, but she can't question further as she hears the unique footsteps of her crew from the lower level echo from around the corner by the lift. The soft click of Tali's delicate boots and the metallic thunk of Garrus' armored feet are easily drowned out by the heavy stomps of the Normandy's very own Krogan, Wrex.

"What's that smell?" his booming voice reaches her ears before her eyes catch his shape. "Smells like actual food, for once." As he passes by, he gives Jane a quick nod and familiar 'Shepard' in greeting before quickly moving towards the food being dished out.

"How does that smell any different from what you're always eating?" Garrus gives her a quick flick of mandible that she's sure only she can recognize, in both greeting and good humor. "All levo food smells horrible."

"Jealous?" Kaidan swirls a bowl under the Turian's snot, the steam curling around Garrus' plates. "Sure you aren't wishing you could try it?"

"I could always make you one of my smoothies, Garrus," Tali says as she makes a wide birth around the chili crowd and starts to pull down the mixer and various preserved fruits and vegetables Jane had picked up for the Quarian on the Citadel. "It's not as good as fresh, but when properly sanitized, it's much better than the dextro paste."

Her husband's nose plates compress in barely veiled disgust. "Uh, no thanks, Tali. I'm fine with the paste."

Wrex laughs as he takes off towards the table, all but shoving one of his bowls into Liara's unprepared hands as she finally makes an appearance from the medbay. She just barely manages to keep the food from tumbling to the ground with an utter befuddled look on her face.

Jane goes to the Asari, her eyes blinking at the bowl of chili in her hands and her mouth opening once before closing as she tries to come up with something, anything, to say to whatever she just walked into. With a reassuring hand on her shoulder and a humorous twist to her lips, Jane nudges Liara to the table, letting her take a seat as Kaidan and Ashley bring chips and cheese to the table.

With the noises of the game and the new viewer's voices at her back, Jane moves to the mess to her two dextro companions. "Sorry to make you two make your own meals." She motions over her shoulder with a furrowed brow. "I honestly had no idea this was planned."

That damnable mandible flick has her suddenly suspicious again, but Tali cuts in. "Don't worry, Shepard. We kind of already knew they were going to do something special for you." Her white eyes crease behind her purple glassed helmet.

_What is that supposed to mean?_ She opens her mouth to ask just that when Ashley calls out for her to 'hurry the hell up and sit down' and she turns to look over her shoulder. Just like T'Soni, a bowl is jammed into her midsection, pulling her attention back to see a giddy Tali shoving a bowl at her and waving towards the table.

_Okay, my ship has gone insane._ Seeing as Tali refuses to budge, she lets the Quarian take her back to the table and taking a seat at her side to sip on her thick and strangely purple colored smoothie.

Looking around the table, Ashley shouts her anger at the game around mouthfuls, shaking Kaidan at her left or Liara at her right when she doesn't agree with a call. Kaidan seems to be having just as much fun shoving the Chief back just as much whenever he disagrees, though he lacks the tendency to spout random curses or insults to the screen. Liara is trying to take bites in between the rambunctious shoving so her food ends up in her mouth and not all over the table. Wrex just seems to be more entertained watching the soldiers' reactions than the actual game and even Tali seems to be entrapped by the two teams as they biotically shoot the ball for the goal.

She takes a bite of her meal, humming at the sensation that it is just as good at it smelled. It's true that it isn't as good as you'd get at a restaurant on a station or planet, but it is definitely much better than the packaged food they'd been having, better quality or not.

As she's mixing in the cheese into her bowl, Garrus finally makes his way back from the mess. She cringes at the oddly gelatinous blue blob on his tray and inwardly wishes he could at least be able to have had a decent meal like the rest of them. Well, the rest of them minus Tali, but she might not have much choice when her meals have to all be edible through her suit and decontaminated at least three times.

She doesn't even notice when the rest of the crew erupt into a mix of cheers and boos as the final scores are announced, too preoccupied with the playful nudge under the table against her foot as her husband silently reprimands her for staring at his food. She thinks of how funny it is that they carry a silent conversation as she makes a show of taking a bite with a haughty look in her eyes and he responds by making a show of being absolutely disgusted.

She easily falls back into the surrounding conversation once it actually picks up to words, easily agreeing with Ashley, who's completely pissed her team lost, that yes, the referee was blind and should've called it. _Whatever 'it' was._

"You're just made because you lost to Joker," Kaidan smirks behind his metal tumbler before taking a long drink in drawn-out satisfaction at his team winning.

"That little Pyjak?" Wrex shakes his head in disappointment as he gets up to get another bowl.

"Laugh it up, Wrex." Williams shoves her empty bowl away and slumps back in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest. "I think it was rigged."

"Rooting for the underdog, Chief?" Jane quirks a brow but the woman only shrugs. Liara gets up from the table, taking her own empty bowl along with Williams' beside her. "Now, as nice as this is to be treated to a nice meal, this is definitely suspicious, so who are you and what have you done with my crew?"

Kaidan laughs and turns down the screen as it blares out the after game news. "Honestly, Shepard. We _are_ your crew. Some of us just thought that you'd like a little surprise, is all." She lifts a brow in silent demand that he continue.

As Liara comes into view carrying something large and flat across her hands, Jane suddenly realizes what this is and sits back in her seat, demanding it give her more room from what's unraveling in front of her eyes.

"Happy birthday, Shepard," her crew say simultaneously, the happy voices of Liara, Kaidan, and Tail, and the amused – though for all entirely different reasons – voices of Wrex, Ashley, and Garrus.

Everyone is speaking at once – 'never knew you had a birthday in April', 'how old are you, Shepard', 'why didn't you tell anyone', 'where you going to keep it a secret', even Joker piping in to congratulate another year getting older,_ the ass_ - that she can't even distinguish who's saying what as Liara sets the cake on the table.

Jane subtly closes her eyes for a moment longer than a blink and takes a deep breath to collect her thoughts, even kicking at her mate's foot for what she knows must be his involvement in this is his low rumble of amusement is anything to go by.

With renewed strength, she puts on an appreciative smile and nods in thanks. "Uh, thanks, guys. I had no idea that you even _knew_ when my birthday was." She huffs a forced laugh. "Though, I guess you could've just seen it in my files, so it's not that weird."

She looks at the expectant faces, wondering just what the hell someone is supposed to say at something like this. She has no clue, really, she's never had a damn birthday party – _fuck, saying it like that just makes it sound like I'm ten years old_.

Suddenly, she feels the soft pressure along the side of her leg from Garrus, a secret and brief moment of comfort and it's what she needs to straighten her back, look her crew in the eyes and say, "Thank you, it means a lot. Now sit the hell down and eat some cake."

It seems to be enough, as everyone still up takes their seats, Wrex and Liara taking their places as Tali helps to clear the empty places off to the side. "The real people you need to thank are Kaidan and Liara. He cooked whatever that 'chili' was and Liara got this 'cake' for you and the others."

Jane turns to the Quarian. "What about you and Vakarian?"

"Oh," Liara exclaims as she rushes back to the mess and returns with two smaller containers. "I got them this. I didn't want anyone to be left out." She places it down before the two dextros and Jane gets a quick glance of something that looks like pudding. "It's a Quarian dessert, so it was easily able to be sanitized. I hope that's okay, Garrus."

Jane holds make a laugh at her husband's expression as he picks a spoonful of the dessert and watches the almost liquid substance plop back into the bowl. "No problem, Liara. I'm sure it'll be fine." He locks gazes with Jane and she has to look away before she laughs at the look in his eyes saying 'how the hell am I supposed to eat this?'

"Honestly, Skipper, I had no idea it was your birthday. Tali just barely told me before dinner and I was more than happy to eat the food." She lays a plate of the cake before Jane with a smirk and a shrug. "Also… I didn't get you anything."

"Humans get something for you just because you're a year older?" Wrex shoves a huge spoonful into his mouth. "What about us for having to be around you for another year?" he rumbles around a bite and Tali scoffs with a wave in his direction and a muttered 'bosh'tet'.

"It was the least we could do," Kaidan says politely with a raised forkful of cake, as if toasting the room. "It was nothing."

With a nod in as much understanding as she can think of, Jane finally takes a bite. It is an odd flavor, definitely Asari in ingredients because the pink color certainly doesn't quite match with any human flavor she can imagine. It's not bad, per se, and even has a sweetness to it, just different and not quite something she can compare anything to.

Most of the room goes silent, with a few added commentary to the news playing over the holoscreen from the Citadel, and a look around the room shows everyone enjoying themselves, levo crew all but devouring their cake, Tali gratefully slurping down her soupy-pudding, and even Garrus pretending to spoon his dessert around so it doesn't look like he's completely ignored it.

He notices her looking and flicks a mandible, enough for her eye to catch the shift but not enough to be noticed by anyone else unless staring directly at him. He places a warm hand on her knee, the weight soft and seeming to ask if she's enjoying herself, and she strokes her own fingers against his in silent assurance.

Strangely, she's pulled out of her inner musings and small moment with Garrus by the lilting voice of the news reporter. At first, she doesn't know why, but soon understands when C-Sec is mentioned and notices that Garrus, too, seems to have taken notice.

The screen shows a large room filled with flashing lights and hovering cameras. It looks like a lobby to one of the larger private docks, a waiting area of sorts for those with money to spend to purchase rights to have their ships docked away from the usual fare, only having to converse with the few as privileged as themselves.

In the center of the crowd stands a tall, silvery white Turian in what Jane assumes are a Turian equivalent of robes, dark blue with silvery accents that shift to purple in the blue lights. He stands above most of the reporters, either being human, Asari, or Salarian, and even over some of the C-Sec officials whose presence are there to keep the crowd at bay, with back straight, head held high, and hands clasped behind his back. He is barefaced, but holds just as tall as any other General or high tiered Turian she's seen, an air of regality painting his features and marking against the very stereotype of one without colony paint.

"It is to my regret that I am having to stand before the press today under such circumstances as these." His voice rings out with the typical hidden emotion of a well-spoken Turian, the slight tinkling of the rings in his mandibles echoing through the room, as his golden avian eyes scan the crowd, not focusing on a single individual but the whole. "However, I would like to make an official statement that the Blue Suns do not condone such behavior-"

A very familiar voice cuts in as a dark hand raises from the crowd and Jane has to shake her head as what could possibly be coming next from the infuriating woman. "Mr. Reguix," Al-Jilani calls out and to his credit, the robed Turian simply turns his attention to her with no emotion over the fake she just rudely interrupted him. "Are the rumors true that you tried to keep information of this scandal from the press? Have the Blue Suns been openly withholding information that could be beneficial to C-Sec perpetrating their suspects?"

A moment passes, the crowd murmuring to each other as golden eyes look about the room, waiting for quiet to speak. "Ms. Al-Jilani," he begins, "I am not sure where you seemed to have heard these rumors, but I can assure you that they are unfounded. Since this problem has been brought to my attention, I have been in full cooperation with Citadel Security and Council investigation."

"Yet there have been very few arrests made thus far," Al-Jilani finally pushes forwards in the crowd and Jane's finally able to see the remnants of their last encounter in the form of a barely concealed black eye. "Either from the Blue Suns or the C-Sec officers involved in the smuggling ring. Do you have anything to say about the matter?"

Golden eyes drop down to the woman now at the edge of the crowd before him and he gives a slight nod, barely noticeable through the hectic energy rising from Al-Jilani's shoves forwards. "My organization is vast in its number, much larger than the public most likely believes. Unfortunately, that affects Citadel Security's investigation to find the responsible party, to separate those at fault from those indirectly associated with the crime." He pauses to look across the crowd, seeming to address the entirety of their hovering cameras. "Though it may appear that little is being done to correct this matter, I can assure you that we are making sure all guilty parties are dealt with in accordance to their crimes."

Clearly not satisfied, Jane can see the woman bristling at the lack of incriminating information. "But Mr. Reguix-"

"I do apologize, but I have other appointments to keep." Ignoring reporter protests as they are held back by C-Sec, the Turian turns, two Turians in blue and white armor that were hidden at his back taking to his sides, and leaves.

A quick transition back to whatever main newsroom of the channel their watching flashes back to the lilting voice that initially got their attention, but Jane ignores it and goes back to her food. "Why can't I just walk off screen and not be bothered by what's-her-face?" she huffs with a flick of her fork, suddenly not hungry anymore.

"Because then she wouldn't have that shiner. Did you see that thing?!" Ashley leans back into her seat with a long, drawn out whistle. "Damn, Skipper, remind me never to get on your back side."

Garrus rubs at his right ear as his right mandible clacks against his face. "How about we _not_ try to deafen the Turian on the crew?"

Ashley blinks in confusion while Tali chuckles. "That's one good thing about my suit, no loud noises can pierce my eardrums."

Liara tilts her head at the revelation. "Quarians have comparable hearing to Turians?"

Tali nods emphatically. "Oh yes, but we don't get to use them much because of our suits. I think someone once compared it to something close to a Turian. Maybe not as sensitive, though I guess that isn't such a bad thing."

"What a bunch of weaklings." Wrex slammed his large hands onto the tabletop, lifting himself up. "You don't hear Krogan complaining about loud noises."

Jane snorts, seeing the opportunity too good to pass up. "Wrex, Krogan are deaf _because_ of loud noises. Stop blasting shotguns in each other's ears and then we can talk."

The table laughs and the Krogan mock glares, pointing a menacing finger across the table at her, before he chuckles. He takes his leave, demanding Tali help him with some new tech for his suit that she promised to assist with and the Quarian takes off after a quick rush to the disposal with her leftovers. Ashley yawns and excuses herself, tired from the day's mission, which leaves Jane in the awkward positon of being alone in the mess with two people who are currently pining over her and one who has already won her heart.

"I think I have some repairs to do on the Mako." She monitors her reaction, keeping her wide eyes and deep glare from showing on her face, as he stands, his knowing eyes locking on hers with a shift of plates on his face. _What a shit. I will get you for this._"Thanks for the food, Liara," he says to the Asari, making a show of ignoring Jane as she silently demands he 'get the fuck back here and not make this get awkward.'

She watches the retreating back of her only hope at getting out of this conversation without horrible consequences walk away and sighs quietly. She doesn't even have the chance of shoving more food in her mouth as Kaidan finishes up cleaning the table, obviously getting up while she was too busy watching to news and starting to clear the mess.

Liara stands with a blush in her blue cheeks, but Kaidan stops her with a hand on her shoulder, nodding to take a seat as he does the same. Jane really hopes this is what she thinks it is because it could be her way out of this odd situation she's found herself unable to get out of without seeing a horrible outcome.

"Look," he rubs his forehead with a deep exhale. "I know this isn't really the best way of doing this, but I think we should talk."

"This is awkward, I'll admit." Liara clasps her hands together on the table. _You're telling me._

Figuring this is probably the closest she'll get to them questioning whatever it is they think they have with her, Jane rests her elbows on the table. "I'm confused here. You two obviously sound like you've talked about this with each other." She pointedly looks to each and they give a bashful nod. "What I don't get is why you haven't come to me? Spit it out, both of you, before I say 'fuck it' and come off as the bitch."

Liara blinks at the outburst, but Kaidan seems to take it in stride, scooting up in his seat. "Alright… Thing is, I thought we had something, but I'm starting to think I may have just been looking too much into it. You need to make a choice, Shepard, not just keep stringing us along."

_'Stringing you along'… Jesus, I'm with a bunch of horny teenagers._ Jane rubs her temples, taking a deep breath in, then out. This is why she can't seem to make friends with people because she can't seem to keep the bedroom _out_ of the conversation.

"Kaidan. Liara. Relationships aren't my strong suit, I'll admit it, and I'm probably partially to blame for this." She looks up to her crew members, a stern look on her face to help get her point through the love sick expression on their faces. "I never meant for either of you to take my over at friendship as anything else than just that, friendship."

"Oh," Liara jerks back as if hit, her eyes blinking in confusion. "I feel so foolish. I had thought… I guess I horribly misread human expressions. I am so sorry, Shepard." Jane waves the apology off as no harm intended, but doesn't get a chance to respond as Kaidan huffs a depreciative laugh.

"If that's the case, then I completely misread you too, Shepard." He smiles weakly. "And I _am_ human." He looks to Liara and it seems that the two seem to have a small 'no hard feelings?' pass through their connected gazes. "I think it's just a relationship thing." Liara nods in shared understanding.

"If it's any consolation, I'm sorry if I gave the wrong impression." Though she's more angry with herself for letting her want to maintain a friendship get in the way and making this drag on so long, she can give the two this one sense of regret even if she doesn't completely feel at blame. _I never considered taking one for the team meant taking the blame for two people having some strange adoration for you._

Surprisingly, the two don't hold it against her and, though the pain is still fresh in their eyes, it does seem like they'll get over it in no time, as Jane knows they will. They are adults, after all, and no unrequited crush has ever felled soldiers like the two before her and they certainly have gained that respect from their work on the field.

She leaves them to take to their own respective bunks, taking to the elevator with a sense of release flowing through her. She never expected that finally turning the two down would feel so great – no, that sounds like she _wanted_ to make them feel like shit. Turning them down has lifted a weight off her shoulders, a weight that kept her walking on egg shells around them in anticipation for when they would finally come to terms with their feelings enough to bring it up to her, to finally give her that option of politely refusing their advances.


	32. Chapter 31

-Jane-

The lift's doors open on the cargo bay level and she is greeted with the presence of a tired Quarian and Krogan with arms full of disassembled armor and tech. Jane lifts a brow at the sight, her eyes drifting from one to the other. "So, I take it this equipment won't be ready by tomorrow's mission?"

"Keelah, no." Tali unceremoniously drops her load on the elevator floor, pulling an unamused grunt from her companion. "When I offered to help install a new modulator, I didn't know he wanted to _completely_ remod his armor."

"Quit complaining. You lost the bet, you pay the price." Wrex lays a heavy hand on Tali's shoulder. "I warned you, after all."

Knowing there's more to this story, and that Tali usually wiped the floor with Wrex at any bets they've ever made, Jane narrows her eyes on the Krogan. "And just what kind of _bet_ did you make with her?"

"Only that I could tell who she's been seeing on the Citadel." Wrex grins widely and crosses his arms across his chest.

Intrigued by the soft gasp of their Quarian friend, Jane tilts her head in thought. _If Wrex can figure it out._ "Let's see here, odds are it's whoever you're constantly messaging. You also tend to disappear whenever we get to the Citadel…"

"Keep trying, Shepard." Wrex lands a hard palm on her shoulder and nudges Tali to the lift. "Come on. We have an elevator to catch."

More of frustration for not even getting a chance to guess than anything else, Jane glares at the highly amused Krogan standing next to Tali, her head in her hands in embarrassment, as the door slides closed as the lift raises. Shaking her head with a bemused smile, she turns to the only other occupant of the large cargo hold, half under the Mako, and quietly makes her way to him.

Lucky for her – and unlucky for him – her footsteps are drowned out by whatever it is he's doing, so he doesn't even notice her until she steps over his legs and sits on top of his thighs. The next motions are a blur as he tenses, jerks up, hits some part of himself on the tank, and curses before dropping back down.

"Damn, Jane. What the hell was that for?" She can see his hands rub his forehead under the Mako from this angle, a jerk when they hit the tender spot with a low growl.

"That. Is for leaving me to the wolves up there." She pokes a finger in the softer area of his armor above his waist and smiles at the tensing as he tries to keep from repeating hitting his head on the undercarriage. "And _that_ is because I think you told everyone about my birthday."

His chest hitches with knowing laughter and she scowls. "And what makes you think I had anything to do with that?"

Frustrated, she moves into a crouch, hooks her fingers in the lip of his armor's cowl, and jerks him out from under the Mako, pulling him under her. He rumbles in amusement as she drops back down with a huff. "Who the hell else would have told them? Don't tell me that someone on the ship had a random hair up their ass to check my files."

_God, if I didn't love this bastard, I'd punch that damn smirk off his face._ Seeming to read her mind, Garrus runs a talon through her hair, a thrumming chuckle in his chest. "Jane, _I_ didn't tell anyone. Tali did."

That throws her for a loop as she opens her mouth, shutting it with a snap when she can't seem to form words. _How the hell did Tali know?_ She narrows her eyes and shifts uncomfortably against his waist, pulling a groan from his throat.

"That's not distracting at all, Jane. Here," he shifts her lower on his torso so he can sit up, leaning his back against the Mako. "Look, I don't really know where Tali got it, but when we were on the Citadel, she sent out a message to everyone saying that she just found out it was your birthday. She was curious as to what humans do, but I think the most interested people were Kaidan and Liara."

Jane nods in understanding at what he doesn't say, biting her tongue for the moment about _that_ little development as she tries to run through the confusion as to how Tali suddenly had an idea of her birthday. She never knew Tali to look up something about a person without just asking them first and she also wasn't too sure that Quarians even celebrated birthdays the same as humans. Tali had said something about too little resources so it'd make sense if they didn't have celebrations the same as humans, who tended to be quite wasteful in that matter.

Garrus, still amused by obviously knowing something she doesn't, nuzzles against her temple, his voice soft as he says, "It's a shame the person who told her isn't even here to share in the celebrations. Though, I guess not considering the fact that he _chose_ to stay on the Citadel." He pointedly looks into her eyes, his stormy blue eyes searching hers as if trying to transmit whatever the hell he's trying to get at.

_Someone told her about my birthday. Someone on the Citadel. Someone who we must obviously know enough to have them on the Normandy. Someone who chose not to be on the Normandy._ "Oh, shit." Her eyes widen and his mandible flicks at the recognition. "Tali's seeing Ilden."

That makes his face drop into confusion. "Wait, what?"

With a wide smile, Jane cups Garrus' face in her palms. "Tali's been seeing Ilden on the Citadel. That's who she's constantly messaging and that's what Wrex used to get her to fix his armor."

"Tali's…" Garrus blinks and shakes his head with a confused growl. "I wasn't expecting that. Now I just feel awkward… Sure hope they're using protection."

Jane snorts and swats a hand at his chest. "Calm down, boy. I doubt their doing_that_. I didn't mean that when I said they were seeing each other." She crosses her arms over his broad chest and rests her chin on her forearm. "I think it's nice that she has a friend off the ship to talk to. Being a kid on Pilgrimage and away from home must not be the best feeling."

He hums in agreement, the two going silent as his cards his talon through her fallen strands and loose ponytail. She scoots her body the scant millimeters closer to his cold armor, ignoring the chill and imagining the warmth of natural plate against her body as if they weren't sitting on the hard floor of the Normandy's cargo bay. He nuzzles against the top of her head as her eyes catch the glisten of a small metal container that she instantly recognizes.

"My, my, Garrus." She leans over and grabs the small bowl of strange Quarian dessert and spins the spoon in it. "What would Liara think if she found out you weren't eating this? I think her feelings would be hurt. She _did_ go through the trouble of getting it for you so you wouldn't be left out."

He scoffs, pushing her hand, and the green and cream colored substance in it, away. "I'd rather not drown in my food, Jane. Thank you very much."

She lifts a brow. "Drown? Really, Garrus. You know how to drink, so you can't drown with this stuff." She lifts the spoon and tilts her head to watch it plop back into its bowl.

"_That's_ certainly not going to change my mind." He grabs her wrist to stop her from repeating. "Drinking is different. Food isn't meant to be like that, somewhere between liquid and solid. I don't know if I'd have a bigger problem with it slipping through my mandibles or trying to choke me."

She sniffs it, _not too bad of a smell, kind of smells like a grape._ "And just how to baby Turians eat, huh?"

Clearly seeing what she's getting at, Garrus' brow plates drop in a sudden glare. "I am not eating that like an infant."

"So, you're saying that baby Turians _do_ eat stuff like this?" She gets a spoonful and raises it to his mouth, raising her voice to a higher level. "Open up for the train. Choo-choo."

With a growl, Garrus both jerks his head away and swats the offending spoon out of her hand, making it slide across the metal floor and come to a stop near the requisition officer's desk. Jane pouts her lip and huffs. "Now look as the mess you made." She dips her finger in the bowl and flicks it at him.

The cold dessert hits him right above his right eye and he blinks in shock before quickly gaining composure. "You're throwing food and you think _I'm_making the mess?" He dips a talon in and smears a cold streak across her left cheek, making her jump at the sudden feeling with a little yelp.

He flicks a mandible in satisfaction, making her glare, but she's pretty sure it lacks all sense of anger from the streak across her face as he starts to chuckle, his chest rumbling. He takes the food container from her hands, placing it to the side, and take her face in his hands. With a soft purr, he flows the cold trail along her cheek with his rough tongue, replacing the chill with a hot stripe that makes her gasp for an entirely different reason. He pulls back with a growl, she's sure from the change in scents around them he can probably smell. "You know, that doesn't taste all that bad."

She snorts at that added to the fact that he still has his own painting of Quarian pudding across his brow. She smirks at him, quickly moving in to repeat his actions with her own before he remembers it as well. She runs her flat tongue across his brow plate, relishing the rumbling chuckle mixed with low growl as she picks up the taste of spice and fruit, the closest thing like a sweet grape and cinnamon but not quite, mixed with the metallic tingle of his own plates.

"Mmm," she hums as she makes a show of licking her lips. "I think you might be right." He responds with a soft thrum and nuzzles against her forehead with his own. When he pulls back, she rubs her palm softly against the middle plate, smiling when he pushes into her hand. "I'm sorry I made you hit your head against the Mako."

He huffs, his warm breath making the few strands of hair that fall across her forehead sway across her skin. "I thought you knew? Turns out that I have a hard head. Just ask my wife."

She snorts with a soft smile. "The hardest." She falls silent, her fingers caressing over his plates, falling into the grooves and tracing his branded colony marks. He lets her explore, purring softly with his eyes glued on hers and presses into her searching fingers when she hits a particularly sensitive spot.

"I have some good news for you," she whispers, almost afraid that their moment of peace could be broken at any moment. His crystal eyes lock onto hers and his hands rub her back softly in silent request to continue. "Liara and Kaidan cornered me tonight."

"I had a suspicion they might." She clicks her tongue at him and narrows her eyes, but he merely shrugs, not willing to add anything more. Jane sighs, knowing that he won't budge, and continues her idle caresses to his plates, chuckling softly when he flexes his nose plates as she strokes her fingers across them.

"I guess I should be thanking you, really. If you hadn't left me with them, I don't think they would have ever gained the courage to finally approach me."

"Courage, huh? That's quite the proclamation, don't you think?" She sees the flash of smirk in his mandibles and tightens her lips at his infuriating smart ass comments.

"You're worse than Joker, you know that?" She softly flicks a finger down the center of his upper mouth plate, pulling back as he tries to playfully nip at it. "I don't mean it like I'm some shit… It's just that they psyched themselves out over who I really am." She drops her hand and looks into his blue eyes, her brows drawn down. "I honestly think they were too infatuated with Commander Shepard to see Jane. Liara's first interest stemmed from the Prothean shit in my head, so she didn't even see _me_ until after that. Kaidan, I think, may have seen me as someone he wanted me to be, someone that could fit into what he hoped the universe was like."

She drops her head with a deep groan and cups her forehead. "God damn it, Garrus. I don't I'm cut out for this whole 'friends with the crew' thing. Am I looking at this the wrong way?"

Strong, warm hands wrap around her wrists and bring them away from her head, replaced instead with a plated forehead that vibrates from an internal thrumming. "No. You are just overstressing this. I had hoped they would finally talk to you about this, finally give you the chance to come clean enough to get them to stop chasing you around." He nudges her to open her eyes while still remaining pressed together. "They'll get over it, maybe see what it is that you saw and understand that whatever they felt wasn't really what they thought."

"And if they don't" she asks with a weak smirk, the low vibrating from her mate helping to ease the headache that was trying to form.

"If they don't? Then that's their problem if they can't act like adults. Time to do as Wrex would say and 'grow a quad'." He tilts his head to bring his lip plates directly before her own lips. "You're mine," he growls before closing the space and pressing his mouth to hers, his tongue effortlessly slipping between her lips to stroke against hers in a dance they've mastered despite species barriers.

A moment passes as the two twist their tongues around the other before Jane pulls back with a smile and warm feeling coursing through her veins. "It's strange how good that feels now that I don't have that weight on my shoulders."

Garrus hums in thought before lifting her chin to look into her eyes, blue matching green. "Maybe you should explain more about what _exactly_ it was you said to them because I'm getting mixed signals here. Though, it may have to do with the fact that I'm not the most knowledgeable when it comes to human standards."

She snorts. "You and me both, buddy… but I think I know where you're confused." She frowns, knowing _exactly_ what he's asking without actually putting words to his hopes. She wishes so much that she could tell him yes to his silent question, but she can't. There's just too much at stake. "As far as Liara and Kaidan are concerned, I have no feelings for anyone on the ship."

Her chest spikes in pain over the crestfallen expression that he quickly masks and the sudden warm runs ice cold in her veins at the fact that she couldn't give him what he so desperately wanted. He doesn't bring it up any more, instead nuzzling into her shoulder with a loving purr, and she closes her eyes in guilt, wishing more than anything to never have made their stupid rule.

He pulls back and she lift his chin to look into his beautiful eyes, mouth opening to apologize, to say anything to try and make it better, but something in his eyes is like balm to the regret. A silent assurance of understanding, of agreement that this is best, that they cannot risk their relationship getting out, that both would suffer the consequences of a moment of relief. She smile softly and he mirrors her, purring as he softly nips at her chin, making her chuckle a soft laugh only he's ever heard fall from her lips.

"Garrus," she softly says, her mind remembering something she had wanted to ask him about but had since forgot. She flicks her fingers at the prongs of his mandibles and he growls lowly. "I have a question."

His mandible flicks and eyes roll in both human and Turian expression of exasperation. "I figured you would." He sits back against the tank's side with a smirk. "Go ahead, ask me about Arcanus."

Her brows lower in confusion. "Who?"

He chuckles, the vibration going through his waist and up her legs to create interesting little tingles that she can't really see to – not after the _last_ time they get frisky in the cargo hold. "Arcanus Reguix. He runs the Blue Suns in Citadel Space. You don't work at C-Sec and _not_know of him or his group. Not too big of a problem because most of what he does is so well hidden that no one can pin it on him. Only time he really comes into the limelight is when the Suns actually take a job that's legal, like high priced protection jobs…or I guess when someone screws up enough to get caught, like you saw." He purrs and runs his hands along her thighs. "But… that's not what you're really asking about, is it?"

She pouts her lip at his knowing chuckle and crosses her arms with a huff. "Why do you always have to ruin my fun?"

"Because you don't live with someone for as long as we have and _not_learn what makes them who they are." He flicks a knuckle under her chin. "I know by now that if your curiosity isn't sated, you'll be up all night thinking about it, usually to the point of overthinking." He smirk and raises a brow. "So, Jane, what was it you wanted to ask me about?"

She bites her lip and flicks the prongs at the end of his mandible. "Doesn't getting a ring through these things hurt?"

He actually laughs at that. "Well, at first, yeah and you wouldn't really see someone going into close combat with them. I think it started around the Unification War with some of the more rebellious colonies as a means to show they wouldn't bow to the Hierarchy easily. The idea of someone willing doing something akin to mutilation made them automatically seem more dangerous to conquer under one rule. Now though, it's usually used by Mercs or Turians from outer colonies as a means of intimidation." He coughs and Jane's barely able to hear the rest.

"I'm sorry, what?" She leans closer, wondering if she heard right.

He groans and looks away. "It's sometimes used in more… intimate settings."

"Wow, what a bunch of pervy Turians." She sits back on his legs with look at his agitated mandible twitches. "I would have never thought."

"That was a human thing, you know. I don't even think everyone _knew_that little bit of information when it was actually used. Pretty sure it took humans with their odd idea of putting holes in everything that get that idea out there." He flicks her ear lobe to get the point across.

"I seriously doubt that." She leans forward and suckles on the prong on his left mandible, pulling out a quick gasp. "Considering that mandibles are so sensitive on their own. You know, the next time I see a merc with those things, the last thing I'm going to be is_intimidated_."

"Please don't tell me that." He rubs his chin over her scalp as she chuckles against the hide of his neck. "Besides, I'm quite sure that Turians don't really think of the tips of our mandibles as erogenous zones. You seem to think we're sensual lovers."

She snorts at that. "Yeah, I forgot. Turians only do enough foreplay to get open and then done. A species of men, I swear."

He rumbles in good mirth. "I like to think of us as efficient."

"Keep telling yourself that, Garrus." She yawns against his neck, nuzzling her nose against his leathery hide with a smile when he purrs in response.

"You should get some rest. I hear the Commander has us going on_another_ ground mission tomorrow."

"I know, what a bitch," she answers with a smirk as she shifts to lay against his chest.

"Hey, watch your mouth." He strokes a warm hand in her hair. "That's my wife you're talking about."

"And she's not here? Some wife." He chuckles, his rumbling chest at her ear and mouth nuzzling the crown of her head. "But I think you might be right. Today's been rough."

"How is the Admiral?" Of course he would know she went to visit Kahoku.

She closes her eyes at the thought of the man, still young considering his position in the Alliance probably forced into early retirement no thanks to some rogue agency of the very military he so diligently served. It was a shitty reward for going the extra mile to find closure for his men and no one deserved what he got. The only positive was the fact that they had even made it in time to save his life, for whatever it was worth.

"He'll live, but I don't think he'll be the same he once was."

Garrus hums in thought, his hand rubbing her back in quiet comfort. "There's a saying in the Hierarchy, 'there's no gun without a man and no man without a gun.' It's one of the things we're taught when we enlist." He lifts her head and nips softly at her lips in his version of a soft kiss. "Admiral Kahoku will find a place if he truly wishes to."

Jane smiles, never quite considering that Kahoku may not even_want_ to continue with the Alliance after everything he's been through. Sure, she would, but it was mostly because she didn't know what else there really was. Kahoku, on the other hand, probably had many choices outside the military, family, friends, a future, so what's to say that his prognosis was as good as a death sentence.

"How do you always know _exactly_ what I need to hear?" she asks with a soft kiss against his lips, her lips curling at his pleased thrum as he presses back.

"It's a gift," he says with a smirk as the loud banging and clanking of the lift descending pulls them out of their quiet moment. She has enough time to swat light-heartedly before she stands up and off of him, brushing off nonexistent dirt from her uniform as he lifts himself from the ground.

-SquigglySquid says: Arcanus Reguix is the product of the mind of The Mirage of Deceit here on FanFiction. He makes ripples later on in Mass Effect's universe, so expect his influence later in the events of Parable. MOD, I hope you liked where I went with him.


	33. Chapter 32

-Garrus-

"Did we get a reply on our Alliance call, Joker?" Jane drops her helmet unceremoniously on the elevator floor and rubs at her neck with a scowl.

"Yeah, actually, looks like they're a few systems over. What, you already chaffing at the idea of an Admiral on board?"

"Give the man some respect, damn it." Her brows draw down as she glares into the lift's ceiling as if trying to burn a hole through the metal. After a moment of no response to her reprimand, Garrus hears her sigh and drop her head back to rest against the wall behind her. "Just… get us to their location so we can get the Admiral somewhere nicer than the Normandy. I'm too tired to rip your ass."

"Aye, aye, ma'am." A pause. "Oh, one last thing. We just got an urgent transmission from an encrypted channel. Came in when you were down on Nepheron… It's an odd one, so up your alley, right?"

"Of course it did." The intercom clicks off and Jane rubs her palms across her face roughly with a groan. "Why can I never get a break?"

"What's the saying? 'Murphy's Law'?" Liara smiles wearily, just as tired from their battle against the various Cerberus freaks against nature they encountered groundside.

Jane snorts. "Hell… close enough. Here I was thinking I could _at least_ get a shower to wash this funk off." She lifts a goo soaked glove to her nose and crinkles her nose at the smell Garrus' is pretty sure even her dull human senses can pick up.

He can't help the step back he takes when her frustrated huff swirls more of the offending smell around the tight quarters. "You do smell pretty rank, Commander." He turns his head to the side to try and point his nose away and hope for cleaner air.

"I bet you say that to all the girls, Vakarian." She smirks and moves to the far end of the lift, nudging Liara closer to him in what he's pretty sure is her attempt to try and distance the smell from the other occupants. "How come I'm the only one soaking in Rachni and zombie goo?"

Liara, not missing a beat, smiles and kicked at Jane's helmet so it rolls to a stop at her feet. "Maybe because you insist on taking everything on with your fists?"

"Not you too." Jane locks gazes with Garrus before quickly looking back at the Asari._Seems I'm not the only one that doesn't appreciate your version of close combat._ "My fists are my best quality." She looks said fists with an appreciative look, examining them with a smile. "Where would the galaxy be if I denied it that gift?"

Neither he nor Liara can respond as the lift door slides up and Jane immediately moves up to the raised terminal before the Galaxy Map, its light blinking in a waiting comm transmission. Curious, the two stand at her back as she flicks the communication open with a stern. "This is Commander Shepard."

"Greetings Commander Shepard," a distinctly male voice rings over the CIC speakers. It's distorted, but not by natural causes like translator difficulties or an alien accent. This sounds like mechanical interference, suspicious when added to the fact that they had just been at a supposedly well-hidden facility. "I'm a representative for a certain party interested in the information you may have obtained concerning Cerberus activities."

He growls at that, not really caring that Liara looks to him with a furrowed brow. He shouldn't have to explain the reason for _not_ likely someone who knows more than they should. Jane's shifting to lean against the console before her draws T'Soni's attention before she can question.

"Well, that's some coincidence you're playing at, whoever the hell you are." Even from this angle, he can see her lip twitch up and her brows drop. "Care to elaborate on just how in the fuck you suddenly know what the hell I'm up to?"

"No harm intended, Commander. In fact, I believe we may have started this conversation in a less than civil manner." Jane huffs softly and Garrus shakes his head at the man's observation of the obvious. "You see, I am an agent of the Shadow Broker-"

"Whoop-dee-fucking-do. Look, I don't care who you are. I _asked_ how the hell you knew about what I'm doing. Don't pussy foot around the answer in hopes of tripping me up."

A swish of door sounds at their side and Garrus looks over to see the Admiral, cane in hand, approach. Liara easily moves to help the unsteady man keep his feet after probably being bed-ridden and weak in the medbay.

"I believe that I am partially to blame for it, Commander Shepard," he says, making Jane turn, her confusion only visible in her emerald eyes. "I hired the Shadow Broker to get information on Cerberus' whereabouts in return for turning over anything I found."

"We were able to determine through Alliance communication that Admiral Kahoku was still alive," the voice adds. "However, it seems that in his current condition, it was you that retrieved the data that he had promised us."

Garrus' mandible flicks and his hands clench into fists at the reminder of just how far the Shadow Broker's hands reach. He knew on the Citadel that the organization was the best to go to for information, but to actually _see_ how easy it was for Shadow Broker agents to get into supposedly secure Alliance communications? It only made his plates itch.

"This information will eventually make its way into our hands by someone." The mechanical overlaid voice echoes as he is drawn up to see his wife looking gazes with the Admiral. The man seems somewhat ashamed for having gone behind official backs, but can anyone really blame him after nearly dying for his truth? "Transmit the files to us and you will be well compensated, Commander. Don't you agree that it's always better to friends than enemies?"

Jane snorts, turning back to the console. "You'll excuse me if I choose to take that with a grain of salt." She pauses, the soft sound of her taking a breath, holding it a moment, and letting it out through her lips. Garrus knows it's something she always does when internally debating a decision.

"Fine," she all but growls, "but I'm not doing this for my sake." She looks back to the Admiral, a deep frown on her features and, surprisingly, a look of hurt in her eyes. "This is to honor Kahoku's deal."

Jane doesn't acknowledge the last of the agent's transmission before the connection is dropped, instead waiting for the slight nod of the Admiral, almost nonexistent if it wasn't for Garrus looking right at the man. Seemingly appeased by whatever transpired between the two humans, Jane's expression lightens as she looks to Liara.

"Liara, help the Admiral back to the medbay." Liara nods in understanding, softly murmuring to the older man as she helps him down the steep metal steps back to the crew level. Jane steps heavily down the ramp and bends down to pick up her helmet from where she had kicked it out of the elevator. "I don't quite know how I feel knowing I _supposedly_ have a favor due from the Shadow Broker."

"I guess it all depends on what you ask them for," Garrus says with a shrug.

She huffs dismissively. "Vague as always. That reminds me." She looks up and shouts, "Joker, did Udina finally get his head out of his ass long enough to give us a target?"

"Not yet, Commander," he quickly responds over the com. "Seems he got lost. I hear it's pretty deep."

She closes her eyes, a genuine smile lifting at the corner of her mouth, and shakes her head. "Not an image I wanted." Clearly frustrated, she rubs a hand along her forehead before she frowns at the smell she obviously forgot. "Fuck it. Joker, set course for one of those other planets we got a job for."

"Any preference, Commander?" Garrus is pretty sure the pilot is grinning madly at the thought of being given such free reign.

"Well, _preferably_ not on the other side of space. _If you can at all manage._" The sound of the pilot tsking in mock pout echoes over before the intercom cuts off, leaving the CIC to its usual soft murmurs and key clicks of the Alliance navigation crews.

"Now I can finally get a damn shower." Jane turns towards the stairs to the crew deck with Garrus following. "You going to get that burn to your suit checked?"

Having not really remembered it as the whole reason he even rode the elevator up here, Garrus stops in his steps for a split second, his head tilted in confusion before quickly regaining composure. "Right," he says as he falls back in step and flicks a finger at the mentioned spot of melted armor. "I don't even think it got through, but I won't hear the end of if it I just yank the stuck Medi-Gel off."

When one of the strange humanoid creatures had gotten close and spit some strange corrosive material at his body, instincts kicked in as he ducked and swung out with the butt of his rifle. His suit took most of the damage and the chest plate probably won't be salvageable due to the damage on his left side, but he's pretty sure it did its job in protecting his natural plates. He had flushed his suit with Medi-Gel, just in case, but was now pretty sure it was stuck to him because of the medical substance had hardened.

A soft thunk pulls him out of his thoughts as he looks down to Jane flicking a finger against his armor, eyes narrow as she scrutinizes the damage through the gaping hole. "Looks like it probably got the top layer of plate so that's why it's sticking." She looks up to him, a smirk on her lips as she steps back with her free hand on her hip. "It's like you got a sunburn, Vakarian. Shape up, pull on your big boy britches, and yank that puppy off."

Garrus opens his mouth to ask just what the hell she just said when a feminine voice cuts in, a stern reprimand in her tone. "I would hope he doesn't just rip it off."

Jane's lips mouth a silent 'oops' as the Normandy's doctor, Chakwas, walks around the wall separating the mess hall off from the deck, but her smile doesn't falter. He glares at Jane as the doctor unceremoniously maneuvers him this way and that to examine the damaged chest piece.

"Honestly, Commander. It's difficult enough getting the crew on this ship to come into the Medbay when they have a problem." She looks over her shoulder to his wife, her eyes narrowed. "I don't need you making things worse with your own form of medical advice."

"I learned my first aid on the streets." Jane shrugs and turns to head to the showers. "So how bad can it really be?" Garrus watches as his mate leaves him to the mercy of the ship's doctor, sighing in defeat as the silver haired woman ushers him to the Medbay and wondering if she's still upset from the last time he was here.

"Now," Chakwas says as she pulls up her Omni-Tool, washing the room in bright light that make him squint and look away. "Let's see if you can't rush off the moment I turn my back."

_I knew I wasn't going to be lucky enough for her to have forgot._ He shrugs when she pointedly looks to him, expecting an explanation. What is there to say? That he's just like probably every other soldier in the universe? Isn't that a bit obvious for someone in this profession long enough to have command of an entire medbay?

Clearly not going to get anything out of the Turian, Chakwas sighs and turns her attention to the task at hand. "I guess it's not that uncommon. Very few soldiers ever openly _enjoy_ being here." Her fingers wedge under a part of the suit, seeming to test the gel's hold and Garrus squirms at the odd sensation. "Still doesn't explain why all of you are such babies."

"What can I say?" A sharp tug that doesn't necessarily hurt, but gives an odd sensation of dull pull and ache. "Guess avoidance is universal."

She replies with a mumbled tone, not sure if in agreement or further doubt, as she releases him and walks over to the cabinets on the wall. She reaches in and seems to shuffle around some bottles and jars, returning with a large tube clasped in her hands.

"Now this is some solvent." She screws the end of the tube directly to his chest piece's dispenser and running it through. "You'll start to feel it loosen up, but just in case," she grabs some gauze from a drawer just in her reach from her position, "we have something if the dissolved Medi-Gel reveals worse than we thought."

He grunts, not really able to come up with words at the weird feeling of the shifting weight against his natural plates as the Medi-Gel starts to unlatch itself in sections. Chakwas gives him a nod in okay when he grabs the armor and tugs it off the rest of the way, finally revealing the actual damage to his carapace from the strange abomination's acidic bile.

"Doesn't look bad at all," the doctor confirms with an assured smile.

Jane was mostly right with her earlier prognosis as Garrus softly touches the off colored plates left of his center keel. They are more of a dull gray then the rest of his plates, lacking the silvery hue and are slightly softer than the more intact part of his chest. It almost reminds him of what they would feel like when he was young and still going through growth spurts, soft and lacking the outermost layer of hard chitin of adult Turians.

The soft footsteps of the doctor across the white floor pull him out of his inner thoughts as she hands him a small jar of something. "Here, though it isn't vital, this will help speed up the process of growing the plate surface back."

Curious, Garrus opens the lid and takes a sniff at it, hearing Chakwas stifle a chuckle at the sight. The shimmery substance doesn't really smell, so he shrugs and takes a glob of it out, smearing it along the injured plate and flicking a mandible at the interesting fact that he can even feel the slight difference in temperature.

Finally receiving the all clear from the doctor, Garrus collects his things, offers thanks, and snaps on his ruined armor before taking off towards the crew quarters in search of something to wear that doesn't have a giant hole eaten through it.

As he dresses in the locker area of the showers, he smirks at the sound of his wife as she shuts off her shower with a deep exhale of relief. He pretends to be occupied by his task of getting his boots on as the soft patter of her footsteps move from the showers, stop to quickly dress like she tends to do when not at home, and then quicken to an excited run as she seems to notice him and rushes closer. He chuckles when her arms wrap around his neck and her weight presses against his back.

"Hey you," she says, a smile in her voice even though he can't see her face as it presses against the side of his own. "What did the doctor say?"

"Besides scolding me for running out last time?" He flicks a mandible, tangling a bit with her wet hair, when he feels her soft hand exploring his chest through the opening in his shirt he hasn't gotten to yet. Knowing what she's searching for, he hands over the small container of cream and guides her to his thinner plates. "She also said that it's nothing. What was it you called it? 'Sunburn'?"

She scrutinizes the jar, a smirk forming on her lips. "Aw, did the wittle baby get a wittle boo boo?" She shifts to sit at his side, her legs over the opposite end of the bench from his own. "This stuff looks just like lotion. What's it do?"

He shrugs, clasping the closures on his top. "I don't know. Speed up the process?" He nods to his locker when she lifts a brow, a silent question of where to put the jar. "Honestly? I don't see the point in not just letting it grow back on its own."

She slams the locker shut and leans against it with a smirk. "The _point_, Vakarian, is that when Chakwas tells you to do something, you do it."

He rumbles in agreement as her Omni-Tool lights up, giving her the chance to read it over as he finishes the last of his clothes. He isn't looking forward to going through his previously discarded armor sets to see what's salvageable enough for a mission after he's already taken the most valuable mods from them to use on his now ruined one.

"Hey," Jane calls out as she shuts down her Tool. "You have a kit ready to drop?"

"Depends. What are we expecting?"

"Mercs, most likely." She waves him over to scan her Tool, showing him a layout of their planned mission from what little information she could pull together. "Remember that cartel that we were asked to take out by killing their two leaders?" She looks to him to get his slight nod in vague remembrance. "This is the second guy we're going after, so just expect the same."

He doesn't remember much, but he does have a suit in mind that he knows can withstand the typical weaponry of mercenaries and criminal organizations usually responsible for what this group seems to be into. "I got something. When do we drop?"

She smiles and pats him on the shoulder. "Suit up and you'll have your answer." She leaves him, chuckling at his exasperated groan at her wonderful sense of preparation.


	34. Chapter 33

-Jane-

"Damn it! Will somebody kill the bitch?!"

Jane smirks at the scream of utter frustration as it echoes through the small base. Landing on Mavigon and quite literally blasting a hole into the side of the building had been quite easy – and quite necessary considering Garrus hadn't completely repaired the Mako to the point where it could outmaneuver heavy fire. Unfortunately, their less-than-conventional entrance only managed to take out a handful of the cartel's members, despite how entertaining the shocked looks on their faces was.

Now, however, she positioned herself on top of the second level with a convenient overhang that provided cover and a bird's-eye view of Wrex as he all but stalked the frantic mercs. Garrus was on the same level as her, positioned far on the other end of the level in order to take out anyone either fleeing or entering from outside through the door or their own make-shift entryway.

"Hear that, Shepard?" Wrex bellows after whipping his shotgun against the back of an unsuspecting Salarian's skull. "Sounds like they don't like you too much."

Jane whips out of cover long enough to lift a sniper into Garrus' sights before ducking back. "I actually feel pretty hurt about it." She leans out to his rumbling laugh and hits a pressurized tank with a pistol shot, making the group taking cover near it to scramble out.

"You've got three targets heading into your blind-spot." She doesn't hear her husband's response at first, but does see the black barrel of his gun swift across the field. Then she hears a sudden and loud register of sniper rifle and something close to a purr over the comm. "One less."

"Show off," Wrex's scoff goes unnoticed as Jane's eyes catch a flicker of movement in the shadows in her very position. It's impossible for someone to have made it up the now-destroyed stairs and past her mate without notice or sound and as she spins to face whatever she thinks she saw directly, a sudden sharp sting shoves into her shoulder between her armor plates.

She reacts faster than her mind can make sense of the cause of pain or the fact that she's stumbling back towards the ledge behind her, grabbing the slim hand she knows isn't hers and tugging the black form with her as she tumbles. Garrus' shocked call of her name falls on deafened ears as she suddenly realizes _wait, why am I pulling whoever this is with me? Didn't they just try to stab me?_

Without coherent thought or plan, Jane's body flares in slow feeling descend, engulfing herself and the shadow in her grip in blue, pulsing light. Unthinking, she throws her assailant as her breath is sucked out, which she only belatedly notes is from her hard landing. All of her flared energy flows from her body and into the slim wrist in her grasp, flinging the body with such force that she can't help but cringe at the sickening thud sound when it hits something.

Remarkably, the finger flings itself up onto unsteady feet and Jane doesn't think as she stands too, ignoring the pain that shoots down her arm, and charges. The hooded figure takes a split moment of seeming panic to scout out their surrounding before taking off in a sprint for the dark of a nearby corridor.

Ignoring the few remaining mercs that seem to be just as confused about the figure, Jane leaves them to Garrus and Wrex, trusting and knowing they can handle the situation as she makes sure not to lose her would-be assassin. She skids around the corner and vaguely sees the silhouetted figure as it seems to be trying to lose its tail in the cover of shadow. She can't let that happen and ducks her head, pooling all her energy into her legs to push her heavily armored form after her much faster target.

Suddenly, the figure hits something hard, its head snapping back before its body has a chance to follow suit as it hits the ground with a loud crash. Jane's stunned eyes finally register her husband, mandibles flicking in rage as he easily bats away a blade pulled from seemingly nowhere, crouches over the figure while taking a slender wrist in one massive hand, and jerking the body up.

It's as he twists the shape's arm behind its back, his other arm dwarfing its neck in a threatening hold, that Jane starts to see something she was to pumped with adrenaline to notice: the assassin is small and not just in comparison to Garrus' large and growling frame. Their feet don't even touch the ground in this position and even from her position, Jane can tell that even Tali would be taller than this person.

Jane has never seen someone so small, at least not openly trying to kill her, and it somewhat unnerves her and appeals to her unhealthy sense of curiosity. Even though she knows she shouldn't care, something in her mind wants this person not to cause trouble so she can sate the question of why they seem so out of place. Luckily, the figure doesn't struggle in Garrus' hold, seemingly aware of the risk and / or willingly resigning to its fate, and he doesn't move either, his crystal eyes locking on hers, silently awaiting command.

"Easy, Garrus." The sounds of battle outside of their dark corridor die down, Wrex's assuring voice in the comm of the all clear, and Jane steps closer to the two. "Put them down."

His growl shifts in tenor, but he drops his hold around their target's neck, taking the free arm behind its back instead. A soft clinking sounds and it takes a moment for Jane to register where she recognizes the sound, cuffs. Garrus holds the figure around its bound wrists and makes a show of pulling his pistol from its holster in silent warning.

Jane nods to him. _Not quite what I wanted, but close enough._ She turns to the small figure, taking in its dark suit that covers whatever species it might be and frowns, pulling up her Omni-Tool for light.

Under the hood is a mask, simple in design but completely covering their face and head as Jane pulls back the hood with intention of getting a look at her assailant. "Who are you and who do you work for?"

They tilt their head and Jane almost fears they don't have a translator, so she sighs. She can offer a temporary fix in a small earpiece connected to her Omni-Tool, but it involves removing the mask.

"Garrus, hold them." He lifts a brow plate, but doesn't question as Jane takes a step closer while trying to keep her stance as passive as possible. "Now would be a good time to tell me if you can understand what I'm saying. If not, then the mask comes off."

Surprisingly, they don't react the way Jane expects, ducking their head as her hands move to their head and all but openly allowing her to remove their mask. What she sees when the mask slips over the person's head makes her gasp in shock and take a step back, her eyes wide and mouth open.

Standing before her is a white scaled Drell, female by the lack of grooved throat, red eyes blinking blanking in the change of light, but what truly is shocking is the fact that, though Jane isn't an expert at Drell anatomy, this assassin is nothing more than a child. Despite her height, the scales around her face are soft, the scales in the vague location of her ear canals not yet prominent enough to create the typical Drell profile. Even her scales have some places where they don't yet shine because she probably still has a good amount of shedding to go through as she grows.

"Shit, Garrus. She's just a kid." Jane looks up to him, her eyes searching.

This changes things greatly. This is just a kid, someone who probably doesn't even know what she's doing, and that blank stare isn't helping things either. Before finding this out, Jane had a mind to either shoot the assassin on principal or take them into the Citadel to let C-Sec handle it, but now? She can't really kill a child with a clear conscience and she doesn't really see prison as being the solution, especially when considering her own past of crime as a teen.

"Do you understand what I'm saying?" Jane scans the girl's features for any sign of acknowledgement of her words. "Do you have a name?"

Red eyes lock with green. "This one's designation is AT – FD / S12. Employers simplify that to Subject 12, or simply Twelve."

"'This one'?" Garrus' voice has lost its growl, but his mandible still twitches in agitation. "That's typical of dialect taught in the slave trade, Jane. I know what you're thinking…" he pulls her attention to his face, "this isn't an easy fix."

Her brows drop at the apparent obviousness of her inner turmoil. Is it because it's written all over her face or because this is Garrus picking up on it? "Garrus, I won't shoot a kid." He growls and shakes his head, but her attention is now on the Drell girl. "Do you know how old you are?"

She thinks a slow blink will be her only answer until the soft, but still raspy as is traditional to her species, voice replies. "This one was not left with the task of keeping track of their own aging process. It was not deemed important to its purpose."

_Well, I tried._ "And do you know what you were sent her for? Who sent you?"

"The Shadow Broker was paid a large sum in order to temporarily transfer ownership of this one so that the Spectre, Commander Jane Shepard, could be eliminated." Jane closes her eyes as the Drell seems to recite whatever form of contract word for word without emotion. "Temporary ownership belongs to one Helena Blake."

Jane's eyes bolt open and she looks up to the pale assassin's eyes, ignoring the reappearance of her husband's angered growl as it echoes through the dark corridor. Silence falls through the three as Jane examines the girl before her, having not moved from the spot Garrus unceremoniously pulled her up into, and wonders just what the hell she's supposed to do with all of this information, with this sudden child before her and her stupid weakness for any kind of kid, species or otherwise.

Going on a hunch for the girl's sudden lack of fight, Jane asks, "What is the protocol of this situation? What were you taught to do if you were captured?"

Finally, she gets a bit of reaction as the girl drops her head and looks to the cracked floor beneath their feet. "Failure results in termination," she quotes firmly.

"Garrus, let's get her to the Normandy. We'll get her to the Citadel. Maybe they can do something there other than give her a death sentence." Jane rubs her forehead with a dusty glove, wincing as she finally remembers the injury she received. Jutting out from between two plates of her armor is a thin dagger and she pulls it out, sucking in a breath before the cooling sensation of Medi-Gel works into her wound.

Looking at the blade, it's smaller than her hand from fingertip to wrist and only as wide of two of her fingers at its widest, and Jane can tell from the shape that it's meant for throwing, splitting the air as it flies towards its target, but can also be used to stab in dire circumstances. Fortunately, Jane's newly upgraded armor prevented the Drell from hitting her target, instead leaving a large gash in the metal before lodging in the less vital meat of her shoulder.

A deep and rumbling growl that she knows is a kind of reprimand rolls off Garrus as he leads the assassin, 12, past. "Here," he says as he drops a bundle in her hand, "she had more on her."

Sure enough, wrapped in what looks like a chest harness are numerous blades, varying from a similar size of the one in her hand to thinner or thicker, lining the straps that would go across the wearer's body. They all gleam lightly in the lights as Garrus leads the way out into the open area of the just remembered battle.

"Decided to pick up a pet, Shepard?" Their Krogan companion stomps over once he notices them on their way to the Mako. His blood red eyes scan the Drell as Garrus leads her into the hatch and sits her on the bench seat. "Started to think you were too scared to fight the mercs. That, or you and Vakarian were going at it like Varren while I did all the work."

"Listen, Wrex." Jane stops the red plated Krogan just before the tank. "We are taking her to the Citadel to hand her over to C-Sec. She's an assassin, but I'd rather not be one of those sick fucks who hurts a kid so I'm letting them deal with her."

"Growing soft, Shepard." He looks into the tank for a moment before returning back to her. "Know anything about her? Sounds pretty convenient to send a kid after someone who can't seem to pull the trigger."

Jane scowls at the thought. _Helena Blake won't know what hit her once I get my hands on her. Hell, pretty sure Garrus wants to rip the bitch a new one and I'm inclined to let him._ "I know and believe me, I'll get it all worked out. As for her," she motions with her head, "she was the Shadow Broker's own special stock."

He hums in thought and turns to the Mako, climbing in. "Sounds like C-Sec has their work cut out for them, then."

She doesn't voice her agreement, climbing into the Mako, instead, and makes sure to check that Garrus properly strapped in their newest addition. The last thing she wants is to bash the girl's head open because the tank went over a particularly large bump and she wasn't secured or able to rely on her hands to catch her fall. As it is, Garrus chained the cuffs to a beam along the wall before pulling the seat's harness and latching it over the Drell's chest and waist.

The trip back to the ship was as quick as expected in a badly damaged Mako, but they didn't have to worry about any negative contacts or sudden Thresher attacks, so the ride was mostly uneventful. Subject 12 was quiet through the entire trip, red eyes silently observing Jane and her squad as they traversed the rocky planet to reach the pick-up location.

When they arrive on the ship, Jane takes 12 and all but locks her in her cabin before she is dragged to the Med-bay by her husband in what she's sure is payback for the little acid burn from before. A quick cleaning to make sure the blade wasn't coated in something that could have caused more damage and a wrapped bandage later, she calls an impromptu debrief in the comm room.

Most aren't happy with the thought of an assassin on board, especially one who's already made an attempt on one of their lives, but after a bit of explanation of the obvious, they agree that her age is a major factor in keeping her off of their cumulative kill list.

Despite everyone's views on her presence, no one can say with a clear conscious that 12 deserves to die for her actions as she doesn't seem all that aware of the reason why she'd be put to the block, so to speak. Despite Jane's thought to the contrary, they all seem to think that someone can help 12 if they manage to get her to the Citadel. It may just be Jane's tendency to see the negative, but she doesn't hold out for a miracle even though she hopes she's wrong.

With no other arguments, all agree that the Normandy, with its destination already to be the Citadel, would be best to transport their ward. No Alliance vessels are in the area and transporting her to one would just waste time they could be using on their own trip. Plus, it may benefit Subject 12 if Jane were the one to hand her over to C-Sec, both in knowing her special circumstances and maybe being able to use her Spectre status to make sure she isn't treated too unfairly.

It's strange to Jane to think about now that she thinks of it. This assassin, who has given her quite the sore shoulder and back from their short fight, has done something to her and her crew that she can't quite place. Normally, she wouldn't think twice about putting a bullet in the head of anyone who as much as thinks about killing her or her crew, but this girl? This girl is different.

Perhaps this will ultimately be her weakness, but after her childhood of being lost and alone, Jane can't seem to force herself to do harm to someone she sees in no better of a place than she could've found herself in. In different circumstances, she could have ended up much like 12 and that scares her when the thought of mercilessly killing the girl comes into play.

No, she will not harm a child. Not after what she had to go through, what she saw as a kid, herself. The least she can do, both for 12 and the galaxy filled with her potential targets, is to get her behind bars where someone can hopefully fix her and if not, then they can at least keep her from harming anyone.

-SquigglySquid Says: Subject 12 is an OC from the mind of The Mirage of Deceit.


	35. Chapter 34

-Garrus-

"Thought I might find you down here." The light and teasing voice of his mate pulls Garrus out of his work on the Mako. "Figured you might have been crushed under the damn thing since I haven't seen you all day."

He pulls himself upright from where he had been working under the hood panel and winces at the sharp pain of his back's protest at the length of being stuck in such a position for so long. He hadn't really had a chance until now to really think about just how long he's been at repairs and from the sympathetic look in Jane's green eyes and empty cargo bay, it's been a while.

The Normandy was in a state of inactivity for those on the ground crew as it currently traveled to the Citadel. It would take the whole of this day and most of the next before they even docked with the station, so Garrus had taken it upon himself to try and get as much as he could on the beaten and battered tank. It had gone through hell on their latest missions and it was definitely showing when they had brought back their unusual addition to the crew and he wasn't going to send their Commander, his wife, out of the field with faulty equipment if he had anything to say about it, so he had completely toned out the rest of the ship while he worked.

Of course, the thought of not wanting to be stuck doing this when Jane granted a bit of shore leave once they docked also seemed to put a bit of steel in his spine. He definitely wasn't stubborn enough to deny that selfish acknowledgement, though he certainly wouldn't admit it out loud.

He did manage to make it up to the mess earlier when his stomach made it clear it needed food and he no longer sees something now that was clearly present then. "Looks like you're missing your shadow," he quips as he motions her to sit with him, their backs resting against the cool metal side of the vehicle.

Jane's brows drop for a split second in confusion before lifting in quick understanding. "Oh. You mean 12?" She blows out a sigh that's clearly exhausted and he chuckles. "No offense intended to the girl, but damn, she just doesn't quit. Here, I got you something."

She leans over and pulls something down from the wheel well that she must have brought with her from upstairs. Pulling it closer to their current position, he sees that it's two containers from the mess. At that, his stomach protests against its neglect and he can't help his mouth watering at even the Normandy's usual slop as she reveals one of the containers to be his with a warm smile.

"Now how did I know you'd be hungry?" Her lips lift in a knowing smirk. "Trying to watch your figure?"

He gladly takes the offered plate and wastes no time in scooping up a mouthful, not even thinking twice over the taste as he swallows it down. "More like trying to make sure we don't all die the next time you get behind the wheel." She snorts and takes a bite of her own food. "Though you still haven't really explained what was with the addition to your daily rounds."

She mumbles around a bite, quickly swallowing before he can question, and responds, "I don't really know, to be honest. I started by taking her to see Chakwas to get her checked out -you know, the usual. I didn't really know what to do with her and didn't really know she was so persistent until I found out she wasn't in the Medbay where I left her when I went to take a shower." She shakes her head at the thought. "Jesus Christ, I nearly pissed myself. Threw a shampoo bottle at her, too."

He lifts a brow plate and looks directly at her. "Why was she given free reign of the ship?" he growls, thinking about the stupidity of letting a trained assassin- who had already tried once to kill his mate- lose on the ship. "Do I _have_ to explain how dumb an idea that was?"

Jane scowls, but for some reason, it isn't as angry as he would have expected given the circumstances. Last time he had questioned her, it ended up in a fight in her quarters and though he definitely won't complain on how it ended, he never even went as far as to call her decision 'dumb'. Something was definitely up.

"Garrus," her expression drops and her shoulders follow, "Chakwas and I talked to 12 and we were able to get out of her that she wasn't expected to make it out if she ever got caught by a target or law enforcement. That's why she didn't put up a fight to protect her employer or try to struggle once you got a hold of her." She brushes a hand from her forehead to tangle in her hair at the base of her bun. "Shit, she's only fourteen or fifteen years old."

Garrus can see her turmoil, her unvoiced dilemma. If he distances himself from the situation, the tactic of using a child against someone like his wife is the perfect strategy given her background and absolute belief of a child's innocence. He's never even heard of cases from his time at C-Sec of someone using a child for their dirty work. At least, never for anything more than using duct rats for information and even then, it's despicable.

On a more personal side, he is torn between wanting to protect the love of his life from physical danger and trying to make sure she isn't forced into something that breaks her mentally. He can see she sees something in this Drell girl, maybe a similarity to childhood self, and wants to give the girl a chance she never had.

Silently assuring that he will always keep an eye out for possible back-fire, Garrus grants Jane the answer she's desperately searching for in the form of dropping his distrust. "This is definitely a situation unlike any other." He turns to her and takes her hand, which she freely gives. "I know you can read people better than most and I trust your instincts."

A weak smile tugs the corner of her lips and she squeezes his hand. "I know you do and I thank you. I just can't look at her eyes and force myself to see bad intentions. Even her body language speaks of her no longer going to go for my jugular."

"There are still plenty of ways to kill you, Jane. You _are_ awfully squishy and vulnerable under all that armor," he jokes, pulling her hand to his mouth to give it a light nip before letting her continue her meal before it gets cold.

"Wow, thanks. Always knew you were secretly thinking up ways to kill me." Her flash of smile is more fluid and relaxed, a silent thanks for his understanding on the matter. "I did manage to get her to stop following me, and all around creeping out the crew, and it didn't even involve the use of anything less-than-ethical."

He snorts around his bite of food, tipping his head back to swallow before responding. "Does this have anything to do with flying shampoo bottles?"

"No." She pouts her lip in mock insult. "It does not, though that was definitely was caused me to put my foot down." She pauses to take a drink from her bottle of water. "I thought she had just been following me around for lack of anything to do. I even caught her looking over my shoulder when I was writing mission reports, but it wasn't anything vital, so I wasn't concerned that she was trying to spy for the Shadow Broker. Not unless he wanted to know what type of toiletries for the crew I was signing off on or the types of MRE packets I was requesting. It did unease me enough to give her a limited extranet access datapad from the CIC so she could entertain herself without breathing down my neck."

Done with their meals, they both set their empty containers aside and stretch out their legs. Jane leans against his side as she says, "When time came that I wanted to get cleaned up, I asked Chakwas if she wouldn't mind watching her while I did a quick run-around the deck to make sure everything was in order and under Pressley's control before heading to get a shower.

"I'm butt ass naked when I hear the doors open, but I don't immediately think anything is off until I don't hear the usual stomps everyone in this ship seems to use or the clicking of Alliance issued shoes." She huff a laugh to herself. "I got the bottle of soap in my hands, I turn around to tip my head under the water, and, BAM, right in my face are two, big red eyes staring at with that blank stare."

He flicks a mandible in silent laughter. "So you threw a bottle at her because she saw you naked? In a shower? Never thought you were so modest."

She lightly swats his side. "It's not that I cared that she saw my tits -though, now that I think about it, that may have been worse than the bottle to the head."

He chuckles at the mental image of his wife's battlefield instincts kicking in in that situation. "Still, I think it was a little harsh," he quips.

"Harsh my ass. She scared the shit out of me." She mock pouts, even crossing her arms over her chest with a huff. "Even got a girly scream out of me before I clamped that sucker down. Of course I threw a bottle at her, it's only fair. You don't walk up to a woman and stand less than a meter from her when she's trying to shower."

He wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls her closer with a purr. "Well now, _I've_ been closer than a meter when you've been in the shower and I'm happy to say I've never had a bottle thrown at me."

She smirks and lays her head against his shoulder. "Yeah, well you're a special case so don't go spreading that around."

He chuckles and rubs his mouth plates against her scalp. "So, how did you finally end up getting her to stop following you around?"

"I couldn't go another night of no sleep because she's in my cabin using my bed. The crew quarters are off the table because I don't want her around the normal crew, they don't know her special circumstances and I don't really want her around so many people. Too many what ifs. The sleeper pods are out because they are all already claimed, so I wasn't left much choice." She gulps down the last of her bottle of water. "Turns out, Liara it quite smitten with her. After my unexpected visit in the showers, I dragged 12 to the Medbay in a soaking wet uniform that I had to quickly yank on. After getting over her initial embarrassment at the sight of me, Liara offered to show 12 some books on the datapad I gave her."

He hears a snort and looks down to see a soft smile spread across her lips. "I think she likes the idea of the books Liara gave her. She actually seemed quite comfortable in the cot I set up in Liara's room behind the Medbay."

Garrus hums at the relief he hears in her voice. "That's great. Plus, I'm sure she's glad there won't be any more flying bottles of cleaning solution."

"Who said anything about that?" Jane shifts to sit sideways so they can see each other's faces. "People need to be prepared for anything. Expect the unexpected."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." He presses his head to hers. "Though I will admit that it's finally good to see you down here today. I was starting to think that you had forgotten about me."

Jane's lips curl in mock glare as she tries to hide her smile. "You're such an ass." She shoves against his forehead with her own. "As a matter of fact, I did come down here. You were just too busy with your head up the Mako's ass that you didn't notice. Honestly, you must be pretty deaf to have _not_ heard Wrex's story."

His brow plates shift down in a frown at the middle part of her statement. "I was not 'up the Mako's ass'. I wouldn't even know what an ass on an inanimate object would even _be_, but I certainly don't like the idea of having my head up it."

She laughs, not the strong sound she tends to use at their crew meals, but the delicate chuckle she only shares with him. "Aw, come on now. No need to be so touchy." She shifts and presses her lips to his, humming when he gives in and lets her press closer. She pulls away with a light shade of pink to her cheeks and a smile on her lips. "There, doesn't that feel better than pouting?"

He flicks an unimpressed mandible. "I guess I can forgive you." He looks away in mock hurt and she does that sweet laugh again.

"You're such a dramatic puss." Jane pulls herself close and nuzzles under his chin. He purrs and lifts his chin to give her more access, still loving how she tends to use Turian signs of affection as much as he tries to emulate human ones.

He chuckles when he hears an odd noise come from her mouth that sounds vaguely like a mimicry of a vocal. "What is that?" He lifts her chin to see her shy smile, something he's barely ever seen but makes her all the more endearing.

"Did I do it wrong?" She pouts out a lip in frustration and huffs a breath. "Damn. I was trying to make something that sounded like your purrs. You always make this noise whenever you nuzzle up under my chin and I wanted to do it too."

"Do it again." Her eyes light up at his suggestion and she shifts her mouth, her lips slightly open. The noise rolls from her lips and he tilts his head at the sound, which pulls a smile to her lips before she quickly corrects.

It's a strange sound, that's for sure, and doesn't really translate into anything from his own people, no matter the dialect. However, when he stops his mind from taking note of the lack of secondary vocals, deep flange, and vibration of thorax, he can understand what Jane is trying to say. His eyes widen at her attempts at a loving purr, a harmonic used between bondmates to show devotion, commitment, and even desire in the right circumstances.

Sure, it's not exact, but it's _her_, her vocals, her trying to speak a language where they don't need translators to get the point across. He can't help the responding purr that thrums from his chest as he pulls her close, nudging her chin up so he can run his tongue along her smooth neck.

Her purring stops in to a fit of chuckles mixed with her own special mix of light laughter, something he'll never openly call a giggle without fear of reprimand, and laments that she can't carry it with her solitary vocal cords. He gives her a soft nip just below her chin and before pulling away, cupping her cheeks to press his forehead to hers. "Where did you learn that?"

She smirks. "It's called 'Rolling your Rs'. Some human dialects have it and I learned it where I was growing up. I'm not so good at using it in words, but I can produce the sound well enough." She rubs her nose against his nose plates. "So, I take it that I didn't butcher it to the point where you couldn't completely misinterpret it."

"Do you think I would tell you if you did?"

She laughs a short laugh. "Not if you want to live, you wouldn't."

"Exactly." He flicks a warm hearted mandible. "I think my reaction was answer enough, but if you want the truth. At first, it wasn't anything but noise, but when I stopped trying to interpret it and just listened, I understood well enough." She quirks her lips in half frown before shrugging dismissively, but he won't let her drop this without knowing how much he enjoyed it. "Hey, I didn't say I didn't like it." He nudges her head like she did earlier. "I do. It's you and that's better than getting it right."

She chuckles and pulls away, a lifted brow. "You telling me that accuracy isn't everything? Who the hell are you and what did you do with Garrus?"

He shrugs with a smirk. "I never said that. Just that, when compared to me, it's okay if you can't quite keep up."

Jane scoffs and waves a hand towards her face. "Oh my, I think it just got awfully hot in here. How can I ever come back from such a devastating burn? My delicate sensibilities." She shoves his shoulder with a smile. "Look you, go in close like I do and then we'll see how impressive that rifle of yours really is."

"That's easy, it'll act as a more impressive club than your shotgun." He grabs her hand when she tries to shove him again.

"You better not go beating people over the head with that gun. That thing probably costs more than our apartment."

Her reprimand falls on all but deaf ears as he chuckles at the smile across her face. "Do you even know the cost of our apartment? Last I knew, it was entirely under my name and you still haven't taken up your half of the bills," he jokes.

"I never agreed to anything." She leans against his side and he happily lays his arm over her shoulder, pulling her close. "So you're not getting a cent out of me." He lays his head against her scalp and hears the soft yawn the falls from her lips as she still talks. "Besides, I think I paid you back in full by promising you a chance at Saren."

He snorts. "We all know you're going to steal all the credit."

"Damn Skippy." She rubs a hand across his chest and though he can't feel it through his armor, he purrs in contentment at the meaning. "Speaking of. We dock tomorrow at the Citadel and I'm giving at least forty-eight hours of shore leave to everyone. With hope, we will have a destination squared away by then. If not, I'm seriously going to put the biggest boot I have up the Council's ass."

He chuckles, "That doesn't seem all that intimidating when considering the size of your feet. Better go with Wrex's boot."

"I want to get their asses in gear, not demolish them, Garrus." She shifts her head and he sits up, letting her look up to him with a smile. "It's already 0300." She frowns, her hand idly running along the tiny grooves in his armor. "I guess I should probably sleep."

Though he doesn't want to, he agrees if not for the fact that he'd really rather have her fully awake and energized for when they have time together to be themselves. He lifts her chin up with a finger and presses his forehead to hers before giving her a soft pressure to her plump lips. "Get some rest, Jane. I'd rather you be rested up for when we have an entire forty-eight hours to spend alone." He adds a seductive thrum to the last of his words making Jane smile with a snort.

"You're insatiable."

"Comes with marrying a Turian, I'm afraid. Though, I hear you have quite the appetite in bed, as well."

"Don't I know it," she assures with a smirk, pulling herself up and offering him a hand. Once she lifts him up, she gives him a tight hug, her arms squeezing his neck from beneath his cowl, and standing on her toes to keep him from bending. "Get some rest, Vakarian. That's an order. The tank's calibrations can wait until after shore leave." She kisses his neck before he can correct her on the fact that he doesn't 'calibrate' a vehicle and he decides to let his correction die on his lips when she continues. "I think your idea of how to better spend our time sounds interesting enough that I demand further insight. I think I may even deny you shore leave so we can _debrief_."

He smiles and pulls her away, kissing her deeply and letting his tongue twirl with hers in silent promise of what's to come. He only pulls away once their breaths come out in pants against the heating skin of the other. "I think that's actually an order I have no problem following."


	36. Chapter 35

-Jane-

When Liara approaches Jane as she's grabbing a cup of coffee, she didn't believe her idea would work, but thinking about it more as the Normandy goes through the last of its docking procedures she can't see any real reason why not to try it. She admits that spending the morning with her Drell shadow has gotten her to question her decision to directly turn in the girl to authorities.

Subject 12, despite her renewed insistence on following Jane around, seems genuinely curious of the ship and people around her. Jane knew that look in the girl's wide eyes, she wasn't collecting data to take back to some employer, she was a child in a new and wonderful world she's probably never experienced. Jane was having a hard time seeing the good in forcing someone just barely seeing the world over to a system of detainment she personally believed only led to more corruption.

Surprisingly, even the hardest of her crew recognized what little innocence still may have existed under the hard shell the Shadow Broker gave the girl after only meeting her last night during Jane's rounds. Even the normally distrusting Williams approached the Drell this morning as she was packing her things for leave and keyed in some poetry recommendations into her datapad to read.

Liara had said of an Asari on the Citadel who supposedly had a gift with helping people with whatever needs they may have, named The Consort. Sure, it sounded that like the woman was nothing more than a glorified whore, but after questioning her crew as they passed by with their breakfasts, anxious to be off the ship, she was starting to think it wasn't just that. The Consort seems to cater to needs of her clients, whether it be sex, talking, message, the like, and Liara was determined to believe that Subject 12 could benefit from her help.

Jane leans back in her seat, her hands rubbing at the stress headache forming in her temples. Was it really so wrong to look at this from her own perspective and see that even a normal child would meld themselves to fit the environment, the people, that they are around? A sort of monkey-see-monkey-do? Was she wrong in fearing that a girl like 12 would actually be more impressionable due to what little they could determine from her already shifting interactions on the ship?

"You seem stressed." A flanging voice pulls her out of her turmoil, her eyes snapping open as she shifts straight in her seat. She looks around the now empty mess, her only companion besides her husband the Drell girl sitting in one of the chairs of Kaidan's workstation as she reads.

"Sorry. Just thinking." She smiles weakly and he huffs as he takes a seat in front of her.

"You know that shore leave officially started nearly an hour ago and nearly everyone is already off the ship." He looks over his shoulder towards Twelve. "This about her?"

Her brows droop down. "That obvious?" He nods with a pointed look. "Don't give me that. I just…I don't think taking her to C-Sec is the best option."

He blinks once, but quickly recovers. "I don't understand. What, exactly, do you think is better?"

She leans a forearm on the table, dropping the opposite elbow to its surface and cupping her forehead. "I don't know. All I know is that C-Sec will just lock her up. No offense, but I doubt C-Sec is high on believing that some aren't necessarily responsible for their actions."

Her husband sighs, leaning back into his chair as her stress seems to engulf him. "You're right. Turians don't really think that way. We tend to expect someone to take responsibility." He flicks an angered mandible with a low growl. "You're right in thinking the worse, but I don't know what you expect to do with her. You can't just let her go back to the Shadow Broker."

"She wouldn't. She's as good as dead to him, them… whatever." She finally looks over to the person in question. "Garrus, do Turians have an equivalent to the thought that it takes a village to raise a child? That people outside of the family have just a big of influence on a child?"

"Sure. I'm pretty sure all cultures do, regardless of species. Why?"

"I'm starting to think that 12 isn't as apathetic as we believe." He lifts a brow at that. "There's a person deep down and the more we talk to her like she's a person and not a thing, the more that person starts to show." She sighs and drops her arms to lay across the table. "I showed her my favorite book last night, The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland, and then, this morning, I asked her which, out of all the books she's read so far, is her favorite." She looks to him with a frown. "She told me Alice in Wonderland, but she had no clue why. I honestly think she's trying to _be_ that person that's deep down, but she just doesn't know how so she's grasping at straws, saying things she thinks are the right answer because she doesn't know how."

She doesn't say more, instead moving her worried gaze across the level to the girl. She hears the deep exhale and shift of Garrus in his seat, his warm hands taking hers. "Jane, I know you want to help her, but we are a warship full of soldiers. We can't offer her a way into her own mind."

Biting her lip, she squeezes his hands. "That's what I thought until Liara came to me." She turns to him. "She says that there are Asari would can help to break down mental barriers. A kind of psychiatrist, if you will. Liara can't do it, but there's someone on the Citadel who could and who's been doing it for centuries."

"The Consort."

Puzzled, she pauses for a moment. "You've heard of her?"

He rolls his eyes. "I lived on the Citadel, Jane. I even had a run in with an outraged Volus who didn't like that his missed his appointment and had to go back on the waiting list." He shakes his head. "Look, point is that even if you think it'll help. What then? We can't hold the girl's hand. We have a mission."

"Don't you think I know that?" She scowls, jerking her hands from his. "Do you think I'm fucking stupid? I know my priorities and nothing will get in my way when it comes down to taking down Saren, but I can't look at myself in the mirror if I turn my back on this now."

Her hands are trembling in rage and frustration, but she doesn't pull away when he retakes her hands in his with a soothing rumble he's taking no effort in hiding. "Jane, think about what's right for her. What will you do when you have to drop? Who will watch her then? Can you really expect to have the others watch her?"

She clamps her eyes shut. She knows what he's doing, can see it in his eyes. He doesn't necessarily disagree with her, and he may even share some of her fears if she knows the pain in his eyes, but he has to be the voice of reason, the one to point out the flaws that exist in her logic. It's what they've always done with each other, take the figurative punches and be the 'bad guy' in order to show every possibility of their situation and though she respects it, she can't help but tighten her fists in his hold in utter frustration.

"God damn it," she hisses. "_I don't fucking know_. Liara all but begged me to let her stay on the ship, even going as far as saying that she'd never go on a ground mission just to help her, but I still don't know what to do. I'm running a fucking ship, not some damn day care."

A low hum pulls her eyes open and she looks up to her mate, a pensive look in his silvery-blue eyes. "It sounds like T'Soni has deep feelings about this decision. Perhaps you should invite her to go with you to see The Consort if you can convince her to see 12." He smiles softly, stroking his fingers over her hands soothingly. "Talk to her then, let her know your worries and then you can see if she's really aware of what she's asking of you, of what she's offering."

"I don't even know if Twelve wants this." Jane waves her clasped hand lightly in the girl's direction. "I don't think I'd want to know my mind if she went through anything like what I did."

"And yet, it is what is needed in order to heal." He lifts one of her hands to his lips, nipping softly in his very unique kiss. "I know thinking of your past hurts, but you were never able to get over Akuze until you acknowledged it." He looks over his shoulder towards the Drell. "She's smart, she'll understand if you tell her what will happen. I'm also sure that The Consort will know how to make sure it is a smooth transition, not an overwhelming force."

Jane sighs deeply, letting Garrus' hands to go to stand. "Thanks. I'll contact Liara and let her know the plans." She stops mid-step and looks to him. "Will you still be joining me to talk to The Consort?"

He chuckles. "Of course. Though, I may have to take my leave if everything goes as planned." He smirks. "It would be quite awkward to have to explain to Liara why we're spending shore leave together."

She snorts and crosses her arms over her chest. "Not really. Everyone thinks you have such a huge stick up your ass that they all think you spend your shore leaves working anyways. It'd actually be more believable."

One brow plate lifts. "'Stick up my ass'? What's with humans and your fascination with asses? First the Mako and now this?" She shakes his head, choosing not to go down that line of thinking and moves over to Subject 12.

"Hey," she says when the young Drell looks up from her datapad. "We're on shore leave, so we're going to be leaving the ship." Without the word, the girl pops up from her seat, tucking her datapad into an inner pocket of her hooded jacket.

Jane blinks at the sudden movement. "O-kay." She turns to Garrus and motions with her head towards the stairs to leave. "Let's head out to find ourselves an Asari magician."

He shakes his head at that, but doesn't correct her as they round the elevator just as the doors open to let out Tali. The Quarian falters in her step for a moment, obviously not expecting any other crew members still on the ship this late into shore leave. "Oh, hey Shepard. Garrus." Her eyes crinkle behind her mask when she notices their newest addition. "Hi 12… Keelah, I wish we didn't have to call you that. It just feels so-"

"This one does not have any other form of designation," the white Drell interrupts, obviously not privy as to why none of them feel quite right calling her by a number.

Tali looks to Jane, a question in her glowing eyes, and Garrus chuckles. "Looks like we'll have to come up with something."

Now on the CIC, Jane steps closer to 12 and explains. "We don't think that you should go by a number. It's not who you are and, yes, we know you may not know any other name, but soon you'll agree. You'll like leaving the past associated with that number in the past and creating a life for yourself."

Red eyes blink slowly. "This one does not understand."

Garrus and Tali hold the airlock doors open for her and 12 to enter. "I know, but one day it'll make more sense. I promise." Remarkably, the girl actually nods, though in understanding or because she just wants to appease Jane is unsure, but Jane wants to hope that some bit of this conversation may have made it through.

Deciding to drop the subject and give the girl a chance to hopefully think their words over, Jane turns to Tali with a smirk. "So, Tali…"

The Quarian turns to her, her eyes shifted into what Jane assumes is an expecting brow lift. "So, Shepard…"

Her smirk widening, she leans closer and hears her husband's soft chuckle. "Rumors are that you got yourself a boyfriend."

A little squeak echoes out of the woman's helmet and her tri-fingered hands rise in imitation of covering her blushing cheeks. "Shepard! How? Who? Where?"

"What and when?" she jokes, biting back her laughter at her friend's embarrassed gawking. "I never reveal my sources, though it only took a little bit of thought to actually get to the point." Tali's eyes turn to her, glancing quickly to their additional airlock members, before returning with a pleading look in her eyes. "Oh, calm down. 12 is reading her datapad again and Garrus won't tell anyone. Cop's honor."

"I don't think that's a real thing, Shepard," Tali protests weakly, already seeming to see that she has no hope of getting out of this.

"Well then, Turian's honor. Point is," she leans in and mock whispers, "I know who you're seeing whenever we dock and all I have to say is-"

The opening of the airlock doors cut her off and the Quarian is out like a shot from the barrel of a gun. Garrus flicks an amused mandible, a rumbling chuckle thrumming from his chest. "I do believe you may have traumatized the poor girl."

She snorts as she leads the two to the lift, now already on its way down due to Tali rushing to get away from Jane's torment. "Please, that's no worse than you scaring her with that weird food of yours that looked like bugs when we first stocked on the good food."

"Oh, that." He looks up in thought. "I liked those. Shame you never ordered anymore."

"I didn't because half my crew thought they were spiders and the other half had fun trying to scare the former shit-less." She quickly catches herself and turns to 12. "Probably best if you learn to _not_ talk like I do."

The lift opens to let them in and Garrus snorts. "Who are you kidding? Staying on the Normandy, she's definitely _not_ getting out of it without catching the worst of everyone."


	37. Chapter 36

-Garrus-

Finding themselves alone in the stairwell leading up to Flux, Garrus softly stops his wife with a gentle grip on her wrist to grab her attention. She turns to him with a raised brow and relaxes, her silent okay to voice his current question.

"First thing," he motions to the Salarian heading out to the Lower Wards in order to seem less conspicuous. "What're your plans with that device?"

She smirks and inspects the gambling equipment in her hand. "Well, I had a thought of cleaning Flux of all their credits," her grin widens at his unamused mandible flick, "but then I remembered that I married a Turian."

At that, he gives her a smirk of his own and adds a low growl to his voice. "This is the first time I've ever heard you complain…"

She snorts and waves him to continue onward. "Don't worry. You seemed to have rubbed off on me." She tosses the device up with one hand and catches it with the other. "I think I'll probably see if we can get some free drinks if we turn this sucker in. Probably more than what Schells was willing to dish out."

Garrus nods, willing to let her go after whatever payment she thinks she can get as they climb the last of the stairs and step deeper into the thick environment caused by the loud, thumping bass of music. When they enter the upscale bar, she leads him over to the bar counter and waves over a human woman. Surprisingly, she orders two glasses of Turian brandy as well as a drink for herself, when he raises a brow, she shrugs with a pointed look to the waitress, silently saying 'I'll explain in a bit.'

"Here," she says as she hands over a glass, the other hovering just beyond his grasp as she explains. "I know you weren't there when I talked to Sha'ira since Liara wanted to come along, so I'll cut through all the bullshit and tell you why we're here." Her emerald eyes quickly scan the bar before landing on something, which she then subtly motions towards. "See that guy?"

He glances and catches sight of a slumped Turian in a far booth, head dropped to stare into his half drained drink and Garrus' mandible flicks at the obvious look of pain through the drunkenness in his stance. It may be dark where he has secluded himself from the rest of the club, but Garrus knows that even those not accustomed to Turian body language will be able to read something is wrong with this man.

"Apparently he's a General." His jaw drops subtly at that, his mandibles quirking in confusion. She looks over to the General with a sad twitch to her lips. "His name is Septimus Oraka, but his position isn't really the point. She _claims_ that he –oh how did she say it?- oh, yeah." Her lip lifts in distaste as she quotes, "'wanted her to be more than she could be' and now he 'spreads lies about her.'"

Jane shakes her head at the conversation she must have had while he was busy staying out of Liara's sight. He knows his mate's view on Asari, that they never seem to be telling the entire truth and always hold back knowledge when they think it better benefits themselves.

"Look," she interrupts his thoughts. "I don't think Sha'ira is as innocent in this break-up as she claims. To be honest, I think she's a bitch that most likely led him on." He lifts a brow and she waves it off. "Short story, she has a problem with personal space and touching people." She scowls for a moment before grabbing the second Turian drink. "Watch my drink for me. The last thing the General needs is a mated pair walking up and telling him to 'get over it'."

He supposes that's probably something that most likely transcends species, when someone is trying to drink themselves into sweet oblivion from love lost they usually don't want the company of those who have what they don't. It isn't too common to see a Turian out in public drinking to forget their sorrows and it's even a bit disorienting considering that is also such a high ranking member of the Hierarchy, actively serving or not. Add that to the fact that his people tend to keep even their successful relationships private and Garrus doesn't know if he would feel as confident in his mate's shoes as she approaches Oraka, head held high and strides solid as if on a mission on the battlefield.

He may be able to admit that he isn't as good of an example of a good Turian as his father always wanted, but he is enough of one to get an odd itch under his plates from even considering approaching the former General to quite literally demand the man to sober up, even if for his own good. He'd never be able to approach the man at the end of the bar with his head held high, a voice in his head demanding he fall in line and not question a superior member of the Hierarchy, no matter the situation. Maybe it's the environment, Garrus thinks, as he's pretty sure he's had no problem questioning orders on the field, much to his superiors' ire.

He watches from his position as Jane sits at the General's table, offering the drink with a smile despite the Turian's initial dismissal. Garrus can't read her lips to determine her words, but her body language shifts enough to tell him that she's talking to the man as Jane, not Commander Shepard, and it seems to help convince him of her good intentions.

He watches as the General's body shifts, his head dropping and arm coming to the table to wrap around the offered glass. Garrus watches as Oraka seems to openly tell her everything, her silent head nod only confirming his suspicion. He even sees the man hit a point in his story where his emotions shift to anger, his head movements jerky and free arm jabbing to air to prove a point, and Garrus can't help but growl a bit as his blood pumps a bit faster at the thought of his mate being so close to an angered Turian without him.

His rumblings soon calm as he watches Oraka's head drop to his free hand as Jane's soft lips move, her hands waving out towards the club, though Garrus is sure she's probably motioning something beyond. The General finally looks to her eyes, his movements calmer from either understanding or defeat from her words, perhaps even a bit of both.

Watching her talk to the man is mesmerizing, giving Garrus the chance to truly stand back to admire the way she seems to flawlessly fall into patterns of speech and gestures not common in her own species. She has always had an unnatural amount of charisma that she often hides behind her temper and knows that her effortless shift to his own culture's way of conversation is less about her personal relation and more to her ability to read people, her capability to understand what is it they need to hear without a word ever falling from their mouth.

Jane quickly looks up, her green eyes instantly snapping to his with a sympathetic smile on her face, but she's pulled back to her seat as the General moves to push himself up from the table. He stumbles, obviously hit by the number of drinks he must have downed during his time before they arrived, and she helps him back to his chair.

Garrus doesn't need any more reason to step in, setting his drink on the container to go to waste after only having a sip or two, and moves to his mate's side. The booth smells strongly of Turian liquor, strong and cheap, and he's pretty sure the General's drunken fumble knocked over a glass or two as his eye catches a glimmer of liquid snaking across the glass surface.

"So this is the pup," Oraka growls out, his subvocals thick from his grief and intoxication. "Save your pep talk. Your mate's already made her point."

Garrus flicks a mandible at the loud mix of harmonics wafting off the man, unbidden from Turians' usual stern control, but he doesn't remark. One look at his wife's expression is enough to tell him that saying anything will only add salt to the General's wounds. He shifts the weight on his shoulder and nods for her to lead the way, considering that escorting the man home is the least he can do for such a war hero.

As they approach the transportation terminal, Oraka gains enough footing to lessen the weight on Garrus' and lays a firm hand on Jane's shoulder, causing her to turn to him with a questioning brow. "Go tend to Xeltan. I am capable of dragging myself home. I would like to speak to the pup, if you don't mind."

Her brows draw down, but smooth out once the man stands more solidly on his own feet, letting Garrus go. She turns to Garrus and he nods, silently acknowledging that he'll offer the man a chance to speak his mind. Satisfied, she nods in a very Turian goodbye, walking down the steps to give the two some semblance of privacy.

A buzz of amusement echoes from the General as he turns, liquor-dazed eyes locking firmly onto him. "Your mate is more than she lets on." Garrus narrows his eyes, searching for that the hell that's supposed to mean, but the man just shrugs. "Just consider what duty should come first." He looks off to where Jane stands in the distant as she waits. "Most of us are too stubborn to know, wasting our lives on protocol and rules."

Garrus opens his mouth, the man's words of 'advice' too confusing possibly from the vast amounts of alcohol in his system, but Oraka shakes his head in silent refusal to add anything more. With a gruff cough, Oraka moves to the cab terminal, a heavy hand dropping to Garrus' shoulder in what he's unsure of either being the need for balance or an actual gesture that the man probably picked up from living on the Citadel.

Knowing it's best to leave the man be as he climbs into his transport to head to wherever he calls home, Garrus returns his attention to joining his wife. As he climbs down the stairs on the way to where she's waiting by the entrance to the Lower Wards, he sees her talking to a much younger red headed human female, who he recognizes after a moment as the waitress from the bar.

He catches the last of the conversation, something about a sister working as an informant for C-Sec in Chora's Den and the woman's fear of her getting hurt. A logical fear when considering the amount of crime that flows through the club and something he isn't at all surprised to hear gets Jane's attention. Jane agrees to help, the woman leaving her with a grateful thank you, as Garrus makes it to her side.

Once the woman is out of earshot, and the hallway clear, Jane smiles up to him. "Well, what secrets were you sharing with the General?"

He shakes his head with an amused mandible flick. "Turns out he's quite smitten with you."

She snorts. "'Smitten.' I don't know why you sound so ridiculous saying that… Anyways, I figure you heard what's going on?" She motions towards where the short woman disappeared back into the club and he nods. "I figured that maybe we can check up on C-Sec and see if you can pull a favor to ask who is dealing with Jenna."

Garrus smirks. "What? You aren't just going to go straight into Chora's Den and walk right up to her?"

Jane rolls her eyes and turns to leave, on their way to The Consort, most likely. "Please, I'm not an idiot. I don't have to be a cop to know that risking someone's cover is just stupid." She pulls out a datapad and hands it over her shoulder. "Here. Do you think you can take this to Xeltan, the Elcor diplomat over in the embassies?"

He takes the datapad, but decides to tease her. "What? Now I'm your errand boy while you get to have fun with The Consort?"

He chuckles at the exaggerated shiver that shakes from her shoulders and down her back. "Please, don't remind me. I feel like I have to take a shower after her first attempt at seducing me." They step into an elevator and Jane presses the close button, sealing the two alone in. "You know, it's actually a good thing you aren't there." She smirks and runs a light touch along his mandible, pulling out an involuntary purr, but pulls back before he can do anything more. "I would be afraid you would make a scene."

"Now, now. You'd make me out to be entirely uncontrollable." He chuckles when she raises a brow. He steps closer to her, knowing he only has a moment as the lift slows beneath his feet, and take her chin in his free hand. He presses against her lips, dipping his tongue in to tug once on her own before he pulls back and back to his professional distance.

He hears her huff in frustration just as the doors open and they step aside and out to let those waiting to get on step inside. She heads towards The Consort's while he moves in the opposite direction to deliver the Elcor's datapad.

Just as he's leaving the embassies after handing over the apparently sensitive information hacked from the diplomat's accounts, Garrus' Omni-Tool pings softly with incoming message. Pulling it up, he can't help his mandible's flaring in amusement as he reads.

"Is it too late to change my mind? Can I say that I'm okay with possessive Turians?"

He sits down at a Presidium bench, his head tilted subtly in confusion, and writes a reply. "What happened?"

"Here I am, letting her know her men problems are taken care of, being as civil as I can, and the blue bitch comes onto me… ugh, my skin is still twitching."

Garrus is more shocked than anything. _She just sent us to take care of a man whose bond you don't reciprocate and you already move onto the next?_ "I'm starting to see you're problem with Asari."

"I've actually never meant one like her. It's like she's never had someone say no. Like the words doesn't exist in her vocabulary." A pause in messages before she sends another. "The only good thing is that she agreed to see 12. Liara is going to stay with the two."

"Then why are you messaging me and not here?"

He chuckles at her response, practically hearing it in her voice even if he still doesn't quite understand the meaning. "Hold your damn horses. Sha'ira's got some…thing she wants to give me since 'fate is telling her' or some fancy who-ha. Knowing her, I'm probably just getting some garbage, but oh well. Then we can go get some food."

"I'm up for anything that's not ship rations." He cringes at the taste that seems to constantly linger on his tongue of the processed food, even if it's the higher quality.

"Damn, there goes my plans." He huffs in exasperation and shakes his head. "I guess I can suffer with something here on the Citadel."

He smiles. "Then it's settled, something edible for once. Finish up with your Asari friend and we can go eat."

"I hate you," she messages and Garrus has to fight back the laugh that threatens when he pictures her brows drawn down and lip protruding a bit in that cute pout she does when he sometimes teases her to the point where she can't think of a response.

V.v.V.v.V

"I was thinking about asking Chellick if he knows who Jenna's contact is."

Garrus tilts his head back to let his mouthful of noodles slide down his throat before looking across the table to his wife, licking the tip of his mandible to catch the trial of broth before it falls. "And why would you think that he'd know?"

She shrugs, her mouth full of her own noodles before she bites down and lets the rest fall back into her bowl. "I just figured that he'd be more willing to help me than anyone else. Seems to be the norm that most C-Sec don't like Spectres."

He snorts and sits back in his chair, done with his meal. "That's because a lot of them don't like the fact that Spectres have no limitations, no regulations to have to follow."

"You seem to admire that." She takes a drink from her glass. "You know, there's a difference between not liking rules because they can cause you to lose your target or interfere with your job and not liking rules because you don't like someone telling you want you _can't_ do."

Her brow lifts and a low rumble vibrates through his chest. "You asking if I know the difference?" She shrugs, causing him to huff in exasperation. "Look, I know there's a fine line and it's hard to walk that line, but can you honestly say that rules actually stop those who are determined enough to find their way around them? Corrupt cops are just as likely as a Spectre who follows every law laid out, even when they could very well bypass them."

He feels a gentle rub against his leg and he sighs. "I understand. I know that your head's in the right place," she says with a warm smile. "I always have. Hell, you're better at it than I am."

"I find that hard to believe."

"You shouldn't." Jane pushes her food away and does that silly gesture where she pats her belly, a sign that she's full. "Turns out that you have a better moral compass than I do and I'm not just catering to your ego. I get distracted by stupid things like person beefs or my attitude, but you. I think you'd make a great Spectre."

He blinks in stunned silence and she snorts laugh. "Can you imagine it's been so long that we've been fighting together and I haven't even told you what I think about your fighting? You're fucking brutal on the battlefield, quick and efficient. They weren't wrong when they asked you to join the Spectres, you definitely show it." She holds up a hand to stop any protest. "And no, I'm not saying it because of our relationship because I don't consider that when we're out on the field. In fact, I try to forget that because I don't want it to show through when we fight or cause any unnecessary complications."

They quiet down enough to pay their bills and leave the restaurant, Garrus not quite sure how to respond to her admission. It sends little shocks of heat through his blood, sparks of images of when he was a kid and his childhood dreams of wanting to become a Spectre coming to his mind. In his young mind, a Spectre was the solitary symbol of all that was right in the galaxy, the force that could defeat any evil, and though he clearly knows otherwise as he is now grown, no longer naïve, he can't help but think of what he could still accomplish if he actually let himself believe in Jane's words.

He wouldn't have to watch another criminal, another monster like Saleon, slip through his talons because of protocol that drags him down, chains him while letting his foes fly. As a Spectre, he could follow his leads without worry of some high priced attorney finding a way to snake around his misfiled paperwork.

Even better was the possibility that he would finally be considered his mate's equal, no longer needing to fall onto the constantly stagnant subordinate/superior roles that went against the very grain of his plates. She could keep her secret, hide their marriage and bond, so long as he didn't have to continue to lock his muzzle against his opinion on a mission whenever around someone else. She needed someone who could help give her the other side of the battlefield, not in a way of questioning her lead, but to give her close view of the field the eyes of a long range sniper.

"Hey," her worried voice pulls him out of his thoughts and he looks down to see her clouded smile. "You were gone for a moment. You okay?"

He smiles, an assuring thrum vibrating once before falling quiet again. "Yeah, just thinking about what you said." Her smile clears. "I'll definitely think about it."

She nods at that and motions with a hand towards their apartment complex that he just realizes they were heading to while he was distracted. She chuckles softly, obviously knowing he had been caught day dreaming, and leads him in.


	38. Chapter 37

-Jane-

She'd be lying if she ever said that coming to Garrus' former partner, one of the few people who know of their marriage, to ask for a favor wasn't a bit awkward. In reality, she hopes Chellick doesn't just laugh her out of room over that fact that she has the balls to ask him to pull some strings in order to help Jenna, but it's worth the effort.

She may not know the risk the girl is putting herself in by relaying information to C-Sec, but Jane does know what would've happened if a snitch was ever caught by the Reds. That was just a problem of a criminal's perverted sense of trust being broken, a human betraying a human, so there's no telling what'll be in store if Jenna is found out here on the Citadel. It could get into an ugly hate crime real fast.

Garrus leads her to Chellick's office, one far from the supposed shared rooms of lower detectives, and Jane can't help but consider the fact that the man must have obviously made a name for himself since meeting him at their wedding. Her husband had always said the man was a great example of everything he himself wasn't, by-the-book, blindly following orders, and though most of that was said in a depreciative way towards Garrus' own lack of the same virtues, Jane can't help but see that it must have at least paid off.

Besides, she's pretty sure Garrus could've found himself in a fancy office just like the ones they were passing now if he put his mind to it. It wasn't really a question on if he could do it and more a question on if he really _wanted_ to in her eyes. Although, judging by the sudden fire in his eyes yesterday after their talk in the noodle house, she's positive his sights are on different horizons, horizons she has no doubt he can reach.

Doors slide open to reveal Garrus' old friend working away at his desk, green eyes glancing up to take in his unexpected visitors before tapping a few keys on his terminal. "Greetings Commander," his gravelly voice intones with a slight smirk to his mandible. "What can I do for you?"

"Actually, I'm here to ask a favor, Chellick." Jane motions to an empty seat and, at his nod, pulls it up to sit while Garrus mirrors her.

"A favor?" Chellick clasps his hands in front, his elbows on the desk. "Interesting… though I do believe 'I've paid in full' – as your people say."

Jane snorts at his pointed look that moves from her to her mate and back. "And we haven't forgotten," Garrus speaks up. "Though this is more for someone else's benefit."

At that, a single cream brow ridge raises subtly in interest before his eyes narrow. "Why do I have a feeling that this meeting is more a courtesy than anything else?"

She sighs, knowing the detective is starting to put pieces together that this isn't some social call for a favor and, instead, something having to do with their professions. She really hoped he wouldn't be like nearly all the other officers and look down upon the fact that she now walked around with the status of Spectre. If he does, then getting Rita's sister out of her situation is going to be harder than she thought.

"Look, Decian." His stiff posture relaxes at her use of his name, a subtle sign that he may not immediately dismiss her. "I came here because a woman is worrying about her sister. A sister who she's afraid has gotten herself deep into some shit and she doesn't really have an idea how bad it could get if it all hits the fan." He doesn't stop her to explain the human slang, so she continues, her green eyes meeting his in silent plea for aid. "I only come here to see if you know anything about who her contact in C-Sec is."

He sighs and looks to Garrus, the two Turians sharing some quick remark she isn't privy too – possibly something they once did as partners. "Alright," he says as he returns his attention to her. "I guess I should thank you for at least seeing if I know anything instead of plowing through regulations under the powers of your Spectre status. Do you know anything about this informant?"

Jane's face brightens at his agreement to help and she nods. "Yes, her name is Jenna and she works at Chora's Den, collecting information of something going on for C-Sec." Chellick's body shifts and his eyes blink once deliberately, a very indirect sign of shock that she only catches because she's seen Garrus do it on the Normandy, so stopping mid-explanation, Jane lifts presses. "You know who I'm talking about, don't you? You can help me?"

"He can do more than that," the amused voice of her mate echoes from her side.

"How is it that the Spirits are fickle enough to bring me you two on my biggest break?" It seems like an insult, but Jane's knowledge that points out his lack of agitated body language and Garrus' bark of laughter tell her otherwise. Chellick seems more exasperated than upset with this supposed development and she easily figures out who Jenna's C-Sec connection is.

She opens her mouth to say as much when the older Turian holds up a hand. "Don't bother. I've dealt with your mate long enough to have to expect something like this would happen." He leans forward in his seat and clasps his hands once again. "The truth of the matter is that I need Jenna's information. C-Sec Officers are able to do their jobs and keep the Citadel safe because we make sure to have the better equipment, better Intel, and better firepower than anyone who can cause trouble. Rumors have been circulating that there are illegal arms dealers running vastly improved weapon mods through the Citadel and Jenna's been collecting information on the matter."

Jane frowns and he actually has the decency to drop his eyes, his mandibles flicking lightly in some bit of guilt. "I know it might seem cold letting her take all the risk, but I'm keeping a close eye on her. I have various plants around to have a heads up in case her cover is blown."

She breaths deep and runs a hand through her loosely tied hair. "I think you're putting too much on her. Take this however you want, but I think you're looking at her like you would a Turian." She looks up and sees confusion in his bright green eyes, so she explains. "For Turians, military service is mandatory, you know that and I know that. Humans, on the other hand, are the exact opposite. We have more people who don't know how to fire a weapon, let alone hold one, than we do those that join the Alliance or any other military force planetside.

"It's because of that that you see Jenna as perfectly capable of handling herself. Hell, from what her sister says, even she's too damn stubborn to know when she's in over her head." She shrugs to no one in particular before continuing. "Thing is, that's something most humans do at that age, go through a rebellious stage. You need to get her out of there before something happens and you can't help her."

Chellick is quiet for a moment, seeming to search her eyes for whatever answer he's looking for, before exhaling with a slight nod. "Alright. I'll get Jenna out of Chora's Den and out of the informant business." He drops his gaze and shakes his head with a low growl that she barely hears. "Only problem is that my case falls flat without her information."

She shifts in her seat, the low noise of flexing material catching his attention like she wanted. "Is there a way we can help you? Seeing as how you blew apart your lead because of me."

"Actually, I could use your help." He turns to Garrus with a shift in his mandible that Jane is sure is the most humor Chellick tends to show. "Under the condition that you don't proceed much how you'd usually do."

"No promises," Garrus jokes with an amused shrug.

Decian shakes his head, but continues, obviously used to Garrus' teasing. "Luckily, I've learned from Jenna's information that there is a seller here on the Citadel for the arms group. I can set up a pick-up and all you'd have to do is be the buyer, get the mods and bring them back to me. His name's Jax and with the mods as evidence, I will finally have all I need to take them down."

"Wouldn't me being a Spectre tip Jax off?"

"No actually." Chellick types a few things on his terminal. "In fact, it may even convince him you're really in it for the mods." He motions to Garrus. "Even you wearing black will help to convince the idiot Krogan that you aren't C-Sec."

Jane rolls her eyes, not willing to argue anything about Krogan intelligence because, for all she knows, Wrex may very well be the black sheep of his kind with his abnormal ability of perception. "How long will it take you to set up a deal? We only have another day of shore leave."

The detective looks to his terminal, his eyes scanning whatever information on the screen as his gloved talons click away commands. After a moment, he stills and looks up to Jane. "I can get you a meeting within a few hours." Jane nods in agreement and is surprised to see Chellick relax a bit. "Good, I'll send you the meeting place and access to a disposable credit chit for the transaction once I receive it. Just pay Jax and get the mods, anything else may alert them and I'll have nothing."

Jane nods in understanding and offers a quick thanks before leaving him to set up the deal. With nothing else immediately needing her attention before then and her not really wanting to start _something_ at home that may end up being_interrupted_, she decides to take the two to the Spectre Requisitions Office in hopes of finding something better than their current gear. With luck, they may even find something to occupy the time that doesn't involve frustration should Chellick end up having an inconvenient sense of timing.

~SquigglySquid says: I'm sorry for the short update, but I am going on a short vacation out of the country for the rest of the week. I thought about it and didn't think it quite fair to leave without at least a short tidbit, so I quickly wrote this out. I hope it helps in holding everyone over until Monday. :)


	39. Chapter 38

-Garrus-

"Now can I pull off a back alley deal or what? I still got it." Garrus looks down to his wife as they leave Chellick's office, raising a brow at the sight of her squinting to look down their newest mod, a new barrel for an assault rifle. "And I get a fancy mod and credits? Win, win."

He chuckles when she flips the new piece of tech in the air and catches it. "I think you had too much fun back there."

"Please," she snorts with a smile. "I _loved_ it. Going in there, 'you got the money? You got the stuff? Yeah, here it is. Then here you go, now get the fuck out.' What's not to love?"

He flicks an exasperated mandible at her mirth over something technically illegal if they hadn't been there for C-Sec. "I, personally, don't find enjoyment in looking for a fight while on shore leave."

"You're so full of it. You love a good fight." She hands him the mod so he can carry it in one of the larger compartments of his armor to take back to the ship tomorrow. "But that also brings up a question." She looks to him pointedly, waiting for him to make the response that's right at the edge of his tongue, but he holds it and nods instead. _It's no fun when she already expects it._

Seeing that he won't interrupt with a joke, Jane raises a brow, but continues. "I was thinking on what Chellick said back when we first came to him. Something about how Spectre's can just bypass C-Sec on their cases?"

Garrus thinks back to the conversation and nods, knowing what his old partner was referring to. He never had it happen to him and it wasn't typical considering that most Spectres don't bother with C-Sec matters, but it's not impossible. "Technically, a Spectre can go to the Executor and request any case from C-Sec, cold cases, closed cases, even open cases that're currently being worked on, or they can just go to the Investigator and demand in on their case. So long as the investigation doesn't directly involve them, Spectres can gain access to anything."

She nods as they step into the Academy's lobby. "I guess that's why most C-Sec hate Spectres?"

"I've never seen that happen when I was in Investigations and, honestly, I wouldn't think most Spectres would even have the time to tend to small matters on the Citadel unless otherwise told." His wife stops, her brows drawn down in thought, and he steps before her, turning to directly face her. "I don't mind answering questions, but something tells me that this isn't just a case of your curiosity."

At that, her lips quirk and she looks directly into his eyes. "You're right." She looks around and motions him to follow. She leads him to a somewhat empty and quiet corner of the lobby and lowers her voice, still within hearing range but soft enough so that they won't have to worry about eavesdropping. "I was wondering if we could use that to our advantage."

He tries to think of something they would need access to C-Sec files for, but can't seem to pick out anything and he tilts his head in silent confusion. She smiles with a huff of amusement and crosses her arms. "Think about it, Garrus. There is only one reason I can think of to go above C-Sec's head," her smile shifts into a knowing smirk, "and I don't think the Officer on the case would mind if I step in to help him tie up a loose end."

She's feeding him clues and going over her words, letting them circle through his mind, he finally realizes what she's trying to say. Everything she's done today, gone to C-Sec to try and play nice despite the views on her higher authority, following Chellick's order to stay low even though they usually play things differently, and not wanting to go over another officer's head to their case but deciding against it with that playful smirk of hers. It all points to something, and someone, he never would have thought she'd bring up again, despite his constant vigilance during his own time.

"You want to look for Saleon." He takes a step closer to her, dropping his voice to let her hear the rumbling of his rising frustration from that day. "I can't believe you remember that."

"Of course I remember," his mate says with a frown. "How could I not? What that bastard did to those people and how C-Sec fucked up in letting him go?" She stops, probably seeing how her rehash is only repeating everything he already curses to this day, and her expression lightens. "I just think that being a Spectre will give us the best opportunity to track him down to whatever shithole he's taken to hiding in."

His low growl peters out with a sigh. He never really thought about it this way, always figuring that he would have to resort to paying the Shadow Broker to track down Saleon's ship. How can he refuse her offer to track down the Salarian monster? How could he repay her if her idea actually works and they manage to find him?

Quickly, he strokes a single knuckle across her jaw, dropping it just as fast so no one would know unless openly watching them. If that was the case, direct observation would have already picked them out from the close proximity that wasn't common for their species any ways. He doesn't know what to say and can't seem to make himself believe that they'll actually find him just yet, but Jane seems to not need it, instead smiling with a nod and takes him towards the lift for the Presidium.

They ride in silence, which gives Garrus the opportunity to think about who they're going to see in order to act out his wife's plan. He never was on any good standing with Pallin, the man too similar in thinking and standards as his father –not to mention also a good friend- and constantly butted fringes with him whenever his own cases seemed to fall under the Executor's jurisdiction. The Saren case, and Garrus' subsequent leave to join Jane, was just an added headache that ended in wonderful fashion with him arguing at the foot of the Council Chambers stairs right in front of his wife and her subordinates and gaining him the title of hot-headed among the Normandy's crew before even joining them.

Add his own personal experience to the fact that he had absolutely no love for humans or Spectres and this conversation was bound to ruin the rest of his evening. That was only if his wife managed to cage her own short temper when they confront Pallin and maintained her mind of her people's image first, as Garrus knew full well how agitated she could get when facing ignorance and prejudice no matter the species.

He would have even been perfectly fine if she got into a 'pissing contest' –as she puts it- just for the fact that seeing it would be entertaining, but he knows the stakes of getting on the bad side of someone as close to the Council as Pallin. Everything she does when they meet with him is bound to find its way to both the Council and her own Alliance, forcing her into a position as politician as much as soldier, despite Jane's abhorrence of the thought.

They walk into the large office within the Embassies that Pallin works from and he looks up from his terminal with a raised brow plate. "Commander Shepard," he addresses while he locks his terminal and Garrus takes note of how the older man doesn't even acknowledge his own presence. "I didn't expect to see you in my office. Did Ambassador Udina send you?"

"Actually, no." Jane shakes her head, but maintains a more attentive stance than Garrus offers the Executor. He knows she's doing it to try to appeal to the man, trying to come across as a more respecting human than what older Turians usually expect, but Garrus has spent too much time working below the man to know otherwise. "I came here to follow up on my own information into a matter I need to look into."

At that, Pallin's brow plates lower and his eyes narrow. "You humans are always so curious. Always 'sticking your fingers into someone else's pie'. Is that the right expression?" A single red brow lifts on Jane's face and Garrus has to hold in the amused chuckle at the double entendre he only hears after learning some of Jane's slang.

The Executor sighs, clearly forcing his patience, and leans his elbows across his desk. "Was there something you needed, Commander?" He glances at Garrus before returning his sights to Jane. "I'm a busy man and I'm afraid I can't do much for a Spectre."

Garrus sees Jane's eyes narrow at the emphasis on the last word and she crosses her arms. "You can, actually. I need access to a case that Vakarian here worked on but wasn't able to close."

"Don't you have more important issues to tend to than following one of our officer's cases?" He flicks a mandible in dissatisfaction and Garrus can practically hear his mate's withheld huff of frustration.

"With all due respect, Executor, I don't plan on putting my job on hold without good reason. I have a good reason," she says, not adding that the only reason they're even on this station is because they haven't received an exact target from the Council. "I'm looking for Garrus' files on a Doctor Saleon. Word is that he managed to get off the Citadel and he's dangerous." She takes a step forward and drops her arms. "Give me that info and I'll take care of him."

"And do what?" Pallin stands, straightening his back in what Garrus knows is an attempt to subtly direct her to back down. "Take the law into your own hands?" At this, he finally acknowledges Garrus and he fights to keep from stepping in, knowing that as a subordinate he must let his commander handle this. "Our officers are trained to be more mindful of rules and regulations-"

Jane steps in front of the older Turian. "Rules and regulations that are fine and dandy until you come into a situation where a madman is beyond the reach of C-Sec. You really want to tell me, with a clear conscious, that you are perfectly fine with letting someone who using living people as test tubes run around the galaxy?"

Pallin's eyes raise towards Garrus' own and he sees reproach just like that he always sees in his father's eyes. He keeps his emotions in check and knows that in his split moment of observation, Pallin only sees the Garrus Vakarian he's always seen, impatient and stubborn, with the only difference being that he now falls under the command of someone just as determined to bring Saleon to justice.

Taking a step back and lowering himself to his seat, Pallin motions back to the more respectable place before his desk. "I will grant you access to Vakarian's files, seeing as how I really don't have much choice." His vocals are bitter and a low hum of growl lies below his words. "Do with the information as you please, Spectre. Just don't give my officers the idea that this is common procedure."

Garrus doesn't need the Executor to say anymore, knowing full well that his words are just one more lecture that he's already heard enough from his own father, and Jane seems to share the sentiment as she merely nods. They fall silent in the moments it takes Pallin to grant access to open the case files and they leave as soon as it completes, neither of the three wanting much more to do with conversation.

"Well," Jane starts as they get into an elevator to take them to the Academy to collect the information. "That could have been a lot less painful."

He huffs derisively, sharing the sentiment. "Yes, but then that would have meant doing things the easy way and that's not how anything at C-Sec works."

She huffs a short laugh and nods in agreement before saying, "True, but that doesn't mean I _like_ constantly getting into arguments where it always seems to end with everyone whipping their dicks out."

He groans at the imagery and jerks his head back. "Really, Jane?"

"Oh," she snorts with a smirk. "I forgot that you probably never heard that one before. It basically means the same as getting into a pissing contest." _Yet another situation where humans have multiple odd sayings for one thing._ "But that also brings up another question. Did anything happen between you two up there that I wasn't hearing?"

He looks over to her, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I can't always here all the subharmonics going on when you talk to another Turian, but I know you're saying something because they usually react." She pauses to think, biting her lip in the way that usually means she's trying to word her question in a way that's quick and to the point. "I guess I'm asking if we should worry about the Executor knowing more than he should."

He realizes that she's questioning his ability to keep his vocals in check and chuckles. "I think you're selling me short. Turians are taught self-control since before going into the military. If I didn't want Pallin knowing something, he wouldn't know."

She raises a brow with a smirk on her lips. "Really, now? Then what happened with all those other Turians you seem to be yakking to?"

"It's just one of the many things that's hard to explain without having you hear it, but don't worry, the secret is still safe," he says with a smirk, knowing that even after how long they've been together, the concept of exactly how many emotions and verbal cues can come from the many subtleties in harmonics are very odd to her because she can't hear most of them. It's one of the few things he wishes he could change, if only to give her the chance to hear in a way she probably could never imagine.

"So even a skilled cop like Pallin can't tell we're hitched," she waves him out of the elevator and they make their way towards the digital archives.

"Unless I do something obvious, no." She raises a brow at that and he shrugs, not willing to elaborate and show her just how easily their deal to hide their relationship would fail should the issue actually arise. Granted, it would only happen in dire circumstances where his instincts overcame his common sense, but there's always the possibility. _Probably better to just wait until the situation happens to present itself and hope she isn't in the mind to care._

Luckily, Jane drops it as they make their way to the archives and collect all of his paperwork from his case on Saleon. They take the files home and spend hours poring over it, picking any little detail they can that may help lead to something they can use to track him down after so long.

With as much information in hand that they believe may assist in their task, Jane does what he could not and uses sources only available to Spectres to hunt for Saleon where he has taken to hiding. She even messages their own possible source, the assassin Ilden'Ril, so that maybe his own unique way of hacking the extranet can fill in any blanks. Though he wouldn't have been Garrus' first choice, he does admit that the man hasn't down them any wrong yet and there is no real harm to their mission should he choose not to assist or not come up with anything.

With hopes, everything they have laid out will help to bring the beginning of a final conclusion to one of the most disgusting and upsetting cases he has ever worked on. He will be glad to finally be granted the ability to find justice for those Saleon tortured and all that Garrus feels he was unable to help when the mad doctor was able to escape.

Considering all their hard work, he doesn't even mind putting his quest to the side while they hunt for Saren. He's a good enough Turian to put the mission of stopping the traitorous bastard and his Geth first. Plus, he doesn't doubt that, once Saren lies dead, Jane will personally assist him in finally making Saleon pay for his crimes.


	40. Chapter 39

-Jane-

Jane wakes to the soft purring and press of plates against her body as her husband shifts in bed. She doesn't mind it, knowing that his sleeping habits mean he's been awake for a while now and merely relaxing with her in his arms.

Probably sensing her change in awareness, Garrus nuzzles lightly against the crown of her hair and she chuckles, voice husky from sleep. "Can't a girl get some sleep?" she jokes, peeping one eye open to see his satisfied smirk.

"Would you rather be woken up by a blaring alarm?"

She cringes with a sharp inhale at the thought. "Mercy, mercy… no alarms." She scoots across the scant space between their bodies and presses against his hot plates as she closes her eyes again. "Just keep doing that."

His thrumming chuckle makes her open her eyes as he strokes a hand through her sleep messy hair. "Now, now. None of that. You're just trying to go back to sleep." She grunts and bends her neck, burrowing more into him to keep from him waking her. "How about I make it worth your while?"

She lifts a brow, but doesn't move so he doesn't actually see her intrigue. She doesn't get a chance to verbally respond before he's gentle pushing her to her back and rising above her, his eyes shining with the alertness she's always envied him having in the mornings.

With a deep, rhythmic rumbling vibrating from his chest, Garrus drops his head and presses his lip plates against her, nudging his blue tongue against her mouth in silent request for entry. She has no mind to deny him, eagerly giving him access and moaning at the vibration against her tongue of his appreciative growl.

He tangles a hand in her hair to hold her as his coarse muscle wraps around her own, caressing it in the same manner as his other hand as it drifts down her torso. His hand stops at her ribs, stroking a thumb over her breast in a spiraling motion as it draws closer and closer to her now interested nipple. She moans lowly when he finally makes contact, letting his dulled talon scratch teasingly over the nerves and sends waves of electricity across her body.

He releases her mouth and drops to continue on her neck and shoulders, snapping her out of her trance to realize her limbs. She finally manages to lift them to take hold of his body, one hand moving to stroke behind his fringe, which he answers with a low growl and pressing back into her hold, and the other drops to his waist to mirror his playful scratching.

When she drifts her hand to his groin plates, he immediately stops his attentions on her breasts and grabs her wrist in a tight hold. She lifts a brow in question and he answers with a flick of mandible and hungry growl before backing out of her reach and laying between her thighs.

She moans in expectation for what he's planning to do as his hot palms stroke up her legs, from knees to just above her apex, as he nips against the white skin that tingles from his proximity. She legs shift of their own accord and she feels him hold her hips a split second before the searing sensation of his rough tongue swiping up her center.

Head thrown back and fists in the sheets, Jane can do nothing more than moan and gasp as her mate switches between licking her clitoris and shoving his tongue deep into her, using and undulating motion once his mouth in pressed tightly against her pelvis to press against ever nerve deep within her.

It doesn't take long between his long tongue's dexterous motions, vocal vibrations, and thumb circling her clit in time to make her climax, the sensation not a gradual rise to plateau into sensation but a sudden ascend that leaves her feeling weightless.

He's the only one that's ever given her such a feeling and she can only describe it as something like hitting a relay for the first time, though she never seems to get used to it. She doesn't know if the sensation is because he's a different species, human suitors never hitting that high of pleasure as he could with little effort, or the fact that it's _him _but she's in no mood to philosophize as he shifts to kneel between her legs.

She gladly raises her hips to let him shift the pillows on their bed to bring her to a different angle, his blue tongue mindlessly swiping across his mandibles and cleaning some of her fluids that glimmer on his plates in the low light. Once set, he lifts her leg to his hips, his soft caress making her smile as he pushes in with a low growl.

He drops over her to his elbows, letting her wrap her arms over his shoulders and lay kisses and nips along his warm neck. He growls and starts to thrust, his need directing his speed and force. She pulls him tighter, the sensation of continuing so close to her last orgasm making her moan in his ear and he answers with a hard push and low growl.

When he starts to expand, causing her walls to quake from his pending completion, he turns her head to lock tongues, swallowing her moans and letting her swallow his responding growls. They reach their peaks together, their voices mixing in pleasure and hips moving in tandem as they each try to prolong their mate's finish.

Sated and still connected, Garrus rests above her with his weight back on his forearms, his warm pants fanning against her as her own is sure to be doing the same against his plates. They stay that way until they've gotten back enough strength to separate, knowing this was their one moment of reprieve before heading back to the ship.

Last night, she had finally received word that they would have their next target for Saren when she returns to the ship. 'About damn time,' she had told Garrus while they were eating dinner and the message came through her Omni-Tool, but she knew it only met that they were back to business, back to horrible ship food, uncomfortable beds, and the act of professionalism both in their relationship and for her with the public.

Yesterday with Pallin was quite the test of her patience. Sure, she could see why he looked down upon Spectres and the way the worked. She even understood his distrust for humans as she too could see how they may seem ambitious, but, even then, he was seeing an entire group based on a few individuals.

It may just be a Turian way of doing things, but the concept of judging all based on an individual has always rubbed her the wrong way. With luck, her work to hunt and put down Saren may help the galaxy's views of her kind and despite her distaste for playing the field of politics, she'd take it all on the chin. _God knows we need all the help we can get because we sure aren't doing ourselves any favors with Terra Firma-minded assholes like Udina around._

With wobbly legs, Jane climbs out of bed in search for her under weave and armor after she and Garrus unceremoniously dumped them in efforts of getting comfortable. Finding his, she tosses it over with a smile when she sees he has her own in his hands. He starts to pull on when she makes a show of clearing her throat and grabbing his attention, his eye plate raised in silent question.

"Uh, I can't just go Commando in this thing." She holds up her under weave. "I need my under wear. This was on your side and I can't find them, so they should be by you."

"And what, exactly, does 'go Commando' mean and do I want to know?" She smirks and shrugs, to which he snorts. "Now I'm pretty sure I know what it means. What is the point of so many clothes anyway?"

She shifts her weight, dropping a fist to her hip even though she's sure the image is ruined by the fact that she's completely nude and still flushed from their activities. "Does it matter? Just find my damn panties so I can get dressed." She waves her free arm over around the bed and he chuckles, but does as she says.

He comes up with a pair of black underwear in his talons and with an amused flick of his mandible, flings them across the room. She barely has the chance to grab them before they disappear into the closet and she glares at the insufferable grin on his face. "Listen, smart ass," she demands, pointing a stern finger at him. "No throwing my delicates across the damn apartment. I have so few of the fuckers as it is because your people obviously don't know how to drop a pair of damn pants instead of ripping them off."

He shrugs, his attention back to pulling on his suit as she starts to do the same once she finds her bra halfway shoved under the bed. "I'm pretty sure it's _your_ people in the wrong with having so many things in the way."

They finish dressing and strapping on their armor in time to grab a quick breakfast before heading out to the docks. They manage to make it onto the ship right as Tali is parting with her new 'friend' and Jane takes the opportunity to wave with a knowing smirk on her lips, relishing the embarrassed bowing of the Quarian's head. Damn, does she love teasing the girl for the wonderful reactions, but she may have to hold back if Tali starts to get too worked up.

On the ship, Garrus takes his leave to check up on the Mako and get it ready for their drop on whatever planet Saren leads them to. Making her way to her cabin to drop off her overnight bag, she sees Liara making some tea and 12 sitting at a mess table while she looks to be reading from a datapad.

"Hey, T'Soni," Jane says as she tosses her bag into the open door of her cabin, figuring she'll just deal with it later. "How'd your follow-up with Sha'ira go?"

She personally hated talking to the sexually charged whore, feeling like she needed a shower the moment she blue woman opened her mouth –let alone got close enough that Jane had to fight not to throw a punch. She never acted upon her thoughts and maintained a professional civility because she was genuinely interested in what she could offer their Drell addition and hopefully it paid off.

"It went really well, Shepard," Liara says with a warm smile and motions towards the table, a mug of steaming liquid in each hand as she makes her way over. "Why don't you ask her yourself?"

Confused, Jane lifts a brow and the Asari nods towards the girl, who seems to accept the mug of liquid with an actual look of gratitude hinted in her red eyes. Following the doctor's lead, Jane shrugs and turns fully to 12. "So… how'd it go with the Consort?"

The girl takes a slow sip of the hot tea and it gives Jane a chance to actually take a look at her since seeing her last on the Citadel. Her face is still expressionless, but her eyes seem a bit brighter, less like dull doll's eyes and actually something that _could_ be capable of emotion. It's a bit surprising to see, but even Jane knows not to get her hopes up for something like a miracle and she's pretty sure that if the trip to the Consort didn't do anything, she can do nothing more for the former assassin.

Finally putting her cup down, Twelve looks to Jane's emerald eyes. "Sha'ira was kind." She tilts her head and drops her gaze to the table, as if in thought. "I thank you."

That makes Jane draw back a split moment, her eyes blinking in shock at the sudden change of pronoun. Her jaw drops before she snaps her mouth shut, unable to come up with something to say. _Do Asari really work that fast?_

"I've been trying to help 12 understand proper etiquette outside of what she was _trained_ with." The soft voice of Liara finally breaks through Jane's surprise. "It'll take time, but Sha'ira says the biggest step has been taken."

"Wait," Jane holds up a stilling hand. "So she, what, opened a door to all of 12's past? Isn't that like opening flood gates?" She turns to Liara. "Isn't that just like throwing someone out into water and telling them to figure it out?"

T'Soni shakes her head with a soft smile. "If not done properly, then yes, but Sha'ira has had nearly a century of developing her skill." She looks to the Drell who has turned her focus on her cup and seeming to just enjoy it. "Think of it more as a way of numbing the more negative aspect of Twelve's past and instead allowing her to break through her years of training. I've had the pleasure of spending the day with her yesterday and she seems to be opening up quite quickly."

At that new bit of information, Jane frowns and turns to the girl in question. "12, would you give Liara and me some space?" She nods and takes her mug and datapad off towards the Medbay, obviously going for their shared space. Once gone, Jane turns her lowered brows on the Asari. "Liara, this isn't a daycare ship. Granted, I don't know what I was expecting when we took her to the Consort, but I can't be worrying about a possible episode of hysteria that may happen if she suddenly remembers something horrible."

Her face drops and she shakes her head emphatically. "No, Shepard. I didn't expect that of you. I just thought that, considering your knack for collecting all manner of skills and expertise, that you may be able to find a place for her. I'm willing to help her get on her feet." She thumbs her mug with a frown. "I'm no soldier and though I know biotics, I know I'm not the best on your team. I never even thought I'd be much for battle – Goddess, I'm an archeologist! – but I want to help her."

_Once again, my need to help someone and play nice with my crew is coming to bite me in the ass._ "Alright," Jane sighs, "here's how we're going to play this. You're still on the ground squad when I call on you, I can't have you getting sloppy and you won't get better unless you actually fight. Since you don't actually have a duty on the ship, when I do not call on you, you will be responsible for 12." She leans into Liara's vision to make sure she hears the next bit. "She isn't a science project, Liara, so don't treat her like one. Give me reports on her progress because I want to know if she's going to cause any danger on my ship. She is your responsibility, she fucks up and it's on you. Understand?"

Her blue eyes widen at her orders, but she nods in understanding. "Of course, Commander." Jane nods and waves in silent dismissal, letting T'Soni take her now chilled tea to her bunk with the Drell girl.

"Joker, what's the status on the boarding?" She calls out through the empty mess.

"Everyone accounted for and docking procedures already begun." She can hear the light tones of his navigation terminal as he multitasks in working on disembarking procedures and answering her. "What me to patch you through the ship?"

"Unlike you, I don't necessarily like to hear myself talk when I don't even have anything to say." She stands and rubs her back from the uncomfortable chair, the feeling always being worse when returning after a shore leave with more comfortable furniture. "Once we're undocked, set course for the Relay. I'm heading to my cabin to see where brass is finally sending us."

"We sure Saren is even there? Because, you know, he could be long gone by the time the Council finally decided we should know."

Jane exhales heavily and glares up to the intercom. "Haven't you ever heard 'speak of the devil and he shall appear'? Shut your trap about shit like that with Saren, that's the last thing we need." She turns to her cabin. "As if my luck isn't bad enough."

She hears the snort from her pilot as she feels the subtle shift of the engines kicking on enough to disengage from their dock. "That's just because everyone on this ship is a cynic."

_As if you aren't one as well, Joker._ "I should go check on our orders. You drive the damn ship." His amused 'aye' is vaguely heard over the swish of door hydraulics as she steps into her cabin, kicking her bag to the side so it's out of directly in front of her door.

She doesn't bother sitting as she scans through her terminal, easily finding the assignment from the Council for their next destination. Reading through the basics, she finds out that they are destined for a colony by the name of Feros in the Attican Beta. Ignoring the details for when they are in transit, she leaves her cabin to head to the CIC, giving Kaidan an acknowledging nod on the way.

"Joker," she says as she heads up the winding stairs. "Head to the Attican Beta before someone else calls in for help. We got ourselves a rogue Spectre to find."


	41. Chapter 40

-Garrus-

Something was off about the colonists of Zhu's Hope and Garrus was sure that one didn't have to be a human or an expert at human expressions to see it. Even Tali, being the least experienced due to living her whole life on the Flotilla, seems confused and a bit put-off from the odd behavior.

From the supposed leader, Fai Dan, with his clear lack of seeing the need to evacuate from the Geth onslaught to the elderly woman who seems to be in immense pain, all of the colony didn't seem to see any reason for Jane and her crew's worry. The elderly couple in the Medbay even went as far as to refuse any assistance or offered Medi-Gel, remarking that is was 'merely exhaustion from the attack' when Garrus clearly saw otherwise.

Their speech patterns were even off. They tended to reword answers to Jane's questioning, seemingly strafing around certain topics that would get any sort of relevant information for their mission. Everything was either vague answers, change of subject, or a complete lack of response as if the colonists just plain refused to answer. It was all adding to the odd feeling that Garrus already got from landing in the Prothean ruins of some sort of city, only the towers visible through the dense and green fog that smelled of wet, moldy soil and foreign fauna.

The humidity in the air was also adding to their discomfort as he caught Jane frowning and wiping her bare skin on her neck and face when they weren't talking, his own plates feeling sticky from the moisture that stuck to hide. Tali seemed the best off because she didn't have to suffer her open skin in the heavy air, but he also couldn't be sure if that was really the case or if she just had other ways the humidity was affecting her under her suit.

Jane leads the team through the camp, Fai Dan claiming that the colony was suffering from problems with their food, water, and power supplies along with the fact that there is a large number of Geth troops within the tunnels nearby. Getting the surviving colonists assistance in these matters will definitely help to ensure that they stand a fighting chance when they head to the Exo-Geni building, so Garrus sees the benefit in offering aid if they can.

They approach a human woman, her upper half almost completely hidden under a dim and nearly exhausted generator. She pulls herself up, dusting off the layer of dirt that only sticks to her clothes from the damp air, and thanks them for taking out the Geth that had been attacking when the Normandy landed.

"I hear the colony is in need of help not just associated with the Geth." Jane nods towards the generator as she speaks. "It looks like you're the person to talk to for the colony's power problems."

The woman rubs a hand across her damp forehead, smudging more of Feros' dirt across her skin. "Yeah, this generator needs some new power cells. It's barely managing with what we have and I know that's not going to last much longer."

Tali tilts her head and Garrus can see the brights of her eyes squint as she examines the generator from her position. "I can't say for sure from here, but you may be able to use power cells from the Normandy. We certainly have enough to spare in order to get it working."

The mechanic, who still hasn't given her name, huffs and taps the metal of the generator with a knuckle. "Your top-of-the-line ship is too fancy for this old piece of crap. It'd be worse trying to jury rig it."

Garrus holds in a chuckle at Tali's quiet huff as she crosses her arms in slight insult, but Jane assures the mechanic they'll find something instead. When the woman turns back to her work, Jane nods onward with a knowing smile at the Quarian's mock upset, even nudging her with a shoulder when they make their way towards a panicked woman working at a terminal for a water purification system.

She barely acknowledges their offer for help, not even turning to directly speak to them as she jabs at the nonresponsive terminal. Garrus can hear her near hysteric worry of running out of water in her words as she explains to them what they'll need to do in the tunnels to insure the colony has running water. It's still odd to see her so focused on her task, her back even turned against any possible attack from Geth, and it only adds to the strange feeling of unease he's been getting from the rest of the colonists.

Heading back towards Fai Dan, and ultimately the tunnels in question, they traverse through the immobile ship in the center of the camp. On their way through the long hallway that seems so common in human-made ships, a male stops them.

"You're the one who repelled that last wave." Jane nods, obviously not feeling like saying anything to that statement, and he continues, his head held down in either pain shared with the rest or something else. "They'll be back, though. And if they don't kill us, then we'll all die of hunger soon enough."

All shocked by his sudden shift into fatalistic despair, Jane holds up a hand to stop him as he raises a hand to twist in his hair. "I need to boost rations with varren meat," he says, not even aware of his company's attempts to calm him as he turns to pace a short distance. "But that's too dangerous. With Geth in the tunnels, then there's that alpha. Too big and mean. We'll never be able to get the food we need."

He groans as if in pain and Jane takes a step forward, a hand on his shoulder stopping him mid pace as he looks up with a stunned expression, like he's forgotten they were even there to begin with. "Look, I'm heading into the tunnels. I'll take care of the Geth and see if I can take out the Alpha varren." She lets him go and steps back into formation with Garrus and Tali. "I'll let you know once it's safe to go hunt your varren meat down."

He wordless accepts, his eyes still wide in what Garrus can only think of as pain from whatever ailment everyone else on this planet seem to be suffering from or more likely the stress of their largely noncombatant colony coming under attack. Once he leaves the three to make their way back to Fai Dan and the direction of the tunnels, Jane looks to him with a look in her eyes that mirrors his own inner confusion of this place.

None of them will openly comment while still around said colonists and without a complete understanding of what's going on, but even Tali sees his wife's expression and gives a silent nod in agreement to the two's silent exchange. Something odd is definitely going on around Zhu's Hope and it's starting to look more and more like it isn't all the product of a Geth attack, though it seems neither of them can figure out quite what that something is.

Heading into the tunnels, they face small pockets of Geth and easily dispatch them. Jane and Tali both blast the synthetics with combined forces of tech and biotic attacks before finishing them off with their newly acquired Spectre class shotguns. Garrus, too, puts his newly acquired sniper rifle into action, eliminating long range targets with solid blows that even tend to decimate the smaller units' ocular systems and usually finish them off completely.

"God I love a one-shot-one-kill gun," his mate yells with glee after the last Geth falls, giving Tali the chance to open up the first valve for the water system. "Just the sound of them gives me a tingling feeling."

Garrus approaches the two women as Jane finds another valve further down the section of the alcove they're in and activates it. "I'm so happy to hear you think so highly of sniper rifles, Shepard." He rumbles in amusement when she scoffs loudly.

"Don't get your hopes up. I was talking about these beauties." She runs a loving hand along the barrel of her shotgun, even walking towards Tali to do the same to hers. "See, Tali, we're like twins with these babies."

Tali shakes her head in exasperation and Garrus huffs in mock disgust. "Please, you can't always expect to be able to take someone down with a single shot. They're unreliable when compared to a high powered rifle."

"I don't need no rifle," Jane says with a smirk. "The range I'm shooting at, no doubt about my boomstick's reliability."

His response is a quiet shake of his head as she motions forward, the three falling back into formation with guns drawn and ready for enemy contact. Jane leads them further down the tunnels, stopping at a panel that opens to possibly lead out and into another passage. The smell of smoke drifts lightly from the passage and Garrus can hear a faintly noise he knows isn't Geth.

"Heads up, Commander," he says softly. "I think we may be near varren territory."

She nods her head in understanding and raises her shotgun as her body glows a faint blue in preparation. Quickly, she moves in, turning to cover above their approach as they enter in case the source of that growing growling sits above. He spins as he passes under the arch of the entrance just in time to see a group of varren get tossed by his mate's biotic throw and he follows up by taking down one of the creatures not caught by her onslaught.

The three work in tandem to remove the small pack of the beasts and even manage to come face-to-face with the large, fire red varren that they assume is the Alpha. Their assumption proves correct when at its death, the last few remnants of the pack whine and scurry off into shadow in fear in the knowledge that the battle was lost.

"Shepard," Tali calls from an overturned mining vehicle. "I think this has power cells that the colony can use." She holsters her shotgun to her back and pulls away paneling to get a better look.

"Yank them out of there, then." She and Garrus stand by the Quarian as she pulls out power cells to drop at their feet. He takes them from her as she picks them up and straps them to his armor, their weight not really much problem for him since he's both larger than the two women and he doesn't tend to get into the midst of battle with his rifle.

After collecting all of the worth-while power cells from the useless transport, they head back out to look for the last of the remaining possible Geth and whatever else is keeping the water from flowing. A mumbling voice draws their attention further down the tunnels, Jane's brows twisting in open confusion as she looks to him to assure that, yes, he hears that too.

A small collection of Geth stand before them, which they work at taking out. He sniping from the back of the tunnel while Tali sits at his side in order to interfere with their systems and his wife charging forward, despite his every urging _not to_ when he sees her alone.

Luckily, her recklessness doesn't end up in any unnecessary injuries as it leaves Tali to work on what seems like the last terminal for the water system once Jane blasts a hole through the last Geth's chest. She smiles at his frustrated glare when Tali's back is turned, instead ordering the group to move forward in search of that mysterious voice that's still audible now that the gun fire has ceased.

Oddly enough, when they reach closer to the source of the seemingly strange ramblings, they find a human man, his hair disheveled and eyes wild, shaking in the dark of the tunnel. "You don't want to go down there," he demands of them when he catches sight of them.

"Yeah? Well, too bad." Jane crosses her arms, her eyes narrowed at the man's behavior, but her face otherwise expressionless. "I have a job to do, so you can't really stop me."

It's a harsh reaction to someone who seems to be just advising against danger and Garrus is sure she usually tends to be polite until provoked, but it's obvious that her patience is drawing thin. It seems like her temper is showing the more she has to deal with the abnormal behavior they keep seeing from the colonists. He too is getting a bit frustrated and the added factor of this man's erratic behavior and twitchy movements isn't helping to ease his own growing agitation. He's definitely glad his wife is leading because he's certain his reaction wouldn't have been as light hearted.

"Maybe I will stop you." The man jerks a finger in Jane's face and Garrus can't help the twitch of his hands on his rifle in preparation or the soft growl of warning. Thankfully, everyone is preoccupied as this human continues. "How would you like-"

His body suddenly tenses, his fists clenching, eyes clamping shut tightly, and muscles going stiff for a split second as his voice groans in intense pain. Garrus sees Jane take a step back as he drops to a knee and laughs out a wry breath.

"That was a good one," he says with a head shake as he stands, a strange smile of satisfaction on his lips. "Very intense…" He seems to be talking half to them and half to someone, or something, else.

Jane's lips part slightly in puzzlement and a hint of expression Garrus usually only sees when she tastes something bad. "The fuck is wrong with you?"

"Just invoking the master's whip. Helps remind me I'm still alive." That same smile on his lips as he responds, his eyes never once returning to any of their own, and Garrus tightens his hold on his gun. "You're here for the Geth, aren't you? You're not the only one interested in those… things."

At that, her face seems to relax to just an interested brow lift. Hopefully, this man is sane enough to elaborate. "Who else is looking for the Geth on Feros?" she asks.

He shakes his head languidly. "No, not looking for… looking to get _rid of._They're a thorn in the side of the-" He screams, his body tightening again in that same pain. "Trying to get to the," he tries to grunt out with reddened teeth from probably biting his tongue before nearly collapsing again.

His wails of pain quickly descend into peals of hysterical laughter and Tali shakes her head. "Shepard, I don't think this man can help us. We should just let him be."

Jane steps forward, trying to get the struggling man's attention back. "Look, it's safer in the colony than down here. The Geth are gone for now but there's no guarantee they won't show up."

"I thought about that, about if it would just be better to let one of those robots end my misery." The man pants and wipes blood from his lips with the back of his hand. "But I'd rather go down fighting. I'd rather die fighting."

Frustrated, Garrus can't help it when he steps forward with his wife. "We can't help you if you don't tell us what it is you're fighting." Jane doesn't reprimand him, only nodding in agreement to his statement.

The insane man shakes his head with a seemingly frustrated groan. "Not that kind of fight! It's like running through a thorn bush in your damn underwear. The more you struggle to go forward or turn back…" He stumbles, but refuses Jane when she offers a hand. "Ask Fai Dan. Ask him about the-"

He screams again, finally collapsing on the ground in a withering bundle as the jittery clicks of Geth echoes down the tunnel. They must have picked up on the not-so-quiet screams of this hysterical human from wherever it is they were hiding.

In typical Jane fashion, she spins and throws a disorienting biotic fling at their backs to buy them some time to find cover. It's a tactic Garrus never really knows how she came about and it's quite unorthodox, but he can't seem to complain when it seems to work in giving them a chance to fight against oncoming ambushes.

They finish off the attacking troops and leave the half conscious man where he lays after he puts up a struggle when they try to offer aid. Though they all don't like the thought of leaving him down here alone, forcing him to leave just seems to put more stress on him and cause more pain. He refuses to go back to Zhu's Hope and Jane seems to be too fed up with the craziness to drag him 'kicking and screaming', as she put it, so she gives him a small dose of pain relievers from her suit and the three of them help to further hide him in the shadows. With luck, some of the other colonists may be able to convince him when they come to collect varren meat.

There is a shift in enemy contacts when they make their way deeper into the tunnel in hopes of finding whatever seems to be the cause of the high concentration of Geth in the tunnels. Instead of solely facing off against the synthetics, they find themselves against Krogan troops.

Garrus and Jane have enough of a pattern in their fighting styles to manage against the brute soldiers to make up for the lack of effect Tali's tech expertise would have, so the shift in foe doesn't make the squad falter too much. If anything, it works to their advantage to further ensure that Saren had a hand in whatever the reason the Geth are here for as he's the only one they've come across with both Geth and Krogan under his command.

Putting Tali to work at disabling the transmitter in the far end of the tunnels in hopes that it's the source of the Geth presence that's putting pressure on the colony, Jane works at immobilizing their last Krogan while Garrus lines up the killing shot. The last of the gun fire's echoes peter out just as the transmitter slows to a spinning stop and sparks from whatever sabotage the Quarian used.

"Alright," Jane proclaims with a smirk as she holsters her weapon. "Zhu's Hope has food, water, power, and lack of Geth breathing down their necks. If that doesn't take the pressure off, then I don't know what will."

Garrus rumbles in agreement, more than happy to be on their way towards their main target now that they've done all they can. "This will definitely give them a fighting chance so we can head to Exo-Geni, see what the Geth want with the place."


	42. Chapter 41

-Jane-

"That's my mom…Stop!" The young researcher jumps from her seat, hastily unhooking her harness and rushing to the Mako's hatch. "Stop the rover."

Jane slams the tank to a hard stop, Tali jerking in her seat where she sits at the navigation terminal, because she really suspects the frantic Lizbeth would try to just jump while they're still moving. The woman throws open the hatch and scrambles out even before they three soldiers can even release themselves and Jane looks to her husband at the gunnery, a quick exchange through their gazes.

"We'll leave the engine running," she assures as she unfastens her harness with the others. "This shouldn't take long."

None of them need to vocalize how much they really need this little detour to be as Jane is hoping, despite their usual luck to the contrary. With everything they've learned from the Exo-Geni facility – the mind-controlling and somewhat sentient plant, the colonists all being infected and thus why they were acting so strange, Exo-Geni knowing about said plant, the Thorian, and openly _letting_ it infect people for the sake of_observation_- added to the Geth presence, this day it just getting better and better.

Though none of these things are as solely responsible for her growing headache as the fact that _her ship_, one of the few things they seem to have as a one up on Saren -_whenever the bastard manages to stop running the fuck away_ - is under attack by Thorian crazed colonists. She's willing to offer aid to these Exo-Geni refugees if they're quick about it, but she'll be damned if she has to spend any more time from defending her ship and her crew.

Her squad follows her as they quietly advance towards the sounds of arguing from the camp of employees. Lizbeth is crouched behind a portable lighting tripod, out of sight from those below due to the angle of descent of the tunnel, and Jane sneaks further down to take position behind the barricade the Exo-Geni workers had set up at the entrance of their bunker. Tali and Lizbeth move to a small set of crates along the far side of the entrance tunnel while Garrus takes to Jane's side, the higher stakes crates more able to hide his bulk, and they listen in.

"Everyone shut up." The high voice Jeong, the seemingly self-appointed leader of the group, sounds panicked and the footsteps of pacing echo to their position. "Let me think!"

Jane sees Lizbeth's mouth open to ask something across the short way of their cover, but Tali hushes her with a grip on her elbow and soft shake of her hooded head. An older, feminine voice speaks up in stern reprimand, drawing the four's attentions again.

"You can't do this," Lizbeth's mother, Juliana, rings out and Jane takes a quick look to see what looks like a divide among the survivors. "You can't expect to get away with this."

"Get her out of here!" Jeong yells and the armed guards grab the woman by the arms to detain her. Before Jane can stop what's she knows is about to happen, and damn her for not thinking of it a moment sooner, their companion stands, fury in her eyes, and charges the group.

"Get away from her you son of a bitch!" She makes it the few steps past Tali's try at holding her back and sputters to a stop when guns are drawn. Jane sighs deeply in frustration, her hand itching to rub at her thumping head at this- now irritating- change of events.

Jeong, obviously still worked up from whatever these people have been arguing over, orders the rest of them to show themselves, voice shaking with stress and what Jane thinks sounds a bit like fear. With no other choice, _not_ considering the obvious that includes guns and gun fire, Jane shares a quick glance to her team in silent command before standing.

Jeong curses under his breath, the disrespect in his tone not doing anything for Jane's unamused glare, and she hears the soft creak of her mate's gloves as he tightens his fists in what she knows is his own bit of shared frustration. Jeong expected them to fall to the Geth in the facility, but clearly, he never knew who he was dealing with and the threat of his rent-a-cop's sights of the three of them wasn't a good sign for how this would end.

"You and you're men need to back down, Jeong," she says, making a show to keep her hands away from her weapons in case anyone gets twitchy. "This doesn't need to end badly if you just let these people go."

He scoffs and shakes his head, his wide eyes only making her heart pump faster in anticipation of his building sense of hysteria. "You don't understand. It's not that easy, _Shepard_." Garrus growls deeply at her side at the same time her eyes narrow at the inflection the man uses with her name, like an insult, but luckily, everyone seems too worked up to notice.

"Communications are back up," Jeong continues, his hand worrying themselves at his sides as if he's unsure why exactly they're empty. "Exo-Geni wants this place purged-"

"This is a human colony," Lizbeth demands, stepping forward now that the guard's attentions are now on the clearly more dangerous individuals in Jane and her team. "You can't just treat us and the colonists like we're some trash you can just throw away because things didn't turn out."

He huffs in disbelief, his voice still having that odd edge that grates in Jane's ears. "It's not just _you_. There's something here far more valuable than some stupid, back-water colonists."

At this, Jane can't help but cross her arms with a scowl. Let the bastards try to shoot her because if she doesn't occupy her hands, she's pretty damn sure her control is going to snap and the pounding in her head is going to handle the situation. "You thing now would be a good idea to tell them of the Thorian, or would you rather I spill the beans?" She pauses, a mock look of shock filtering over her features. "Oops, I guess you don't really have a choice."

A murmur of shock flows through the concrete alcove as faces turn to each other, questions in their eyes and passing over their lips. With no choice, Lizbeth explains what Jane and her crew already learned at the Exo-Geni facility, her guilt and regret obvious in the way she refuses to make direct eye contact with anyone and her shifting posture.

"You won't get away with this, Jeong." A murmured agreement to Juliana echoes through the bunker and the guns aimed and the squad lower.

"So you keep saying, but nobody will miss a few colonists." Jeong takes his eyes from Jane and it gives her a chance to shift enough to thumb her pistol release, getting prepared with the man's growing agitation. "Exo-Geni pays us enough to look the other way and you'd be smart to do it."

"I bet you'd sell your mother too if the price was right." Jane's disgust seems to pull everyone's attention back to her squad and she can't help the twitch of her lip at the confusion on Jeong's face. He looks shocked that she'd even consider him so ruthlessly bent on himself and it only pisses her off more. "You're nothing more than a glorified whore, Jeong."

Stunned expression quickly transforming into anger, Jeong charges. In a split moment, Jane, Tali, and Garrus switch into action, Jane pulling out her pistol to shoot Jeong between the eyes while her companions take aim at the armed guards in silent warning. The body hits the concrete with a hard thump at the same time of some of the guard's weapons, their clattering a sign of their forfeit of any serious intent to continue the bloodshed.

"As if things here aren't bad enough," Juliana crouches down to check Jeong, giving up when she sees there is no hope at the sight of his wound. "Now we're shooting each other in the back…"

"More like in the head." She knows she should be more concerned over just killing the man and freaking out the rest, but he clearly deserved it for thinking his job was more important than the few still struggling to survive out in Zhu's Hope, even if they were mindless Thorian puppets at the moment. "Look, what's done is done. I need to know what the fuck the Geth want with the Thorian and how to stop it from sending people to attack my damn ship."

Juliana sighs, the sound tired, and two of the guards move to drag Jeong's body off to the side and away from the rest of the survivors. "The colonists won't let you near it. They'd die first just to protect it."

"Doesn't sound like we have much choice," Tali's says softly, a hint of sadness at the thought. Jane frowns at that, but she can't risk her ship and her mission.

Lizbeth seems to fall more into herself at that, probably because she feels partially at fault. _And she should,_ Jane thinks, _considering as how she knew and still went along with it instead of actually doing anything about it._ The woman rubs her forearms through her gloves, trying to stave away some odd chill. "There must be some other way…"

Her mother looks to her with sympathy plain in her eyes before turning back to Jane. "I think there might be…" Her daughter seems to perk up a bit at that and her eyes lose some of the pain of guilt to be replaced with hope. "I was working on a project while at Exo-Geni, but I never had enough access to really know what its purpose was. Hearing about this Thorian creature and what it has done to those poor people, I think I have an idea."

She opens her Omni-Tool to show some kind of charts and equations that completely go over Jane's head, but she doesn't stop Juliana as she continues. "I think you can use this compound as a nerve agent to safely neutralize the colonists. It would effectively render them immobile, keeping them from trying to stop you and saving them from you having to use lethal force."

Garrus grunts at the thought. "So instead of shooting hostiles, you're saying we should release clouds of potentially harmful nerve gas? That never seems like a particularly sound idea." Tali nods at that, only mirroring Jane's inner reluctance as well.

Juliana shakes her head. "This isn't chemical warfare we're talking about, Commander. The insecticide we developed has only trace amounts of Tetraclopine, a neuromuscular degenerator."

Jane lifts a brow, not at all assured by the use of explanation that might as well be in another language. _I got into the military because dropping out of school at eight certainly didn't do me any favors._ "You're going to have to dumb it down, Juliana, or you might as well be speaking Salarian."

That actually gets a weak smile from the two women and she explains, "Odds are that the colonists are already weakened by the Thorian's spores in their systems, so this can act as a paralyzing agent. It won't cause you or your team any harm because it just isn't strong enough to effect you."

It's a big gamble and Jane knows that if it doesn't work, they'll be right back to their only option being shooting their way through, but it's worth a shot. She nods in silent assent and motions the two to get to work on making however many gas canisters they can manage, hoping that it won't take too much more of their already short time.

After a short time, which they actually used to give some data over to one of the refugees, the three climb back into the Mako and finally get on their way back to Zhu's Hope. The few Geth Armatures and massive troops don't stand much chance under fire, the brutal onslaught from Garrus' shooting and Jane's erratic maneuvering mostly caused by the group's shared need to get back to the Normandy to offer assistance.

When they reach the end of the old Prothean skyway and the point at which they must go the rest of the way on foot, they drop out of the Mako, firearms at the ready should the colonists they left on their way out still be at their posts. The doors are sealed, either because the colonists locked it after they left or locked it once they lost their minds, and Tali starts to work to quickly get it open as Jane and Garrus cover her back.

Movement catches her eye and she swings her gun towards it, her eyes widening at the gray shape that shifts and stands. "What the…?" Her words trail off, catching her mate's attention, as the shape takes form of a weird perversion of a human figure, its hands ended in elongated claws, its skin a molted, sickly greenish-gray, its face a mangled mess of empty sockets and pulled back lips, but the worst is the seeping cavity in it chest where a black, tar-like substance drips to the ground.

It turns, body almost reeling as if off-balance, and charges with a screechy moan not quite human, or any other species when Jane thinks about it. Her shock disappearing in a snap, Jane sights down the barrel at the creature, only to see it burst into nothing more than gooey slime and chunks.

"You know," she grits through her frustration once she clears the area of any more possible 'things', for lack of a better word. "I kind of hate it when you steal kills like that, Vakarian."

She looks over to see a hint of that smug smirk in his mandibles and he even has the decency to look somewhat sorry, but she knows better. "What can I say? You should switch weapon specialty if you want to take out targets at range before I do." She snorts a soft laugh, but frowns as her mind quickly shifts back to the task at hand when Tali approaches, a soft nod of her head the signal that she go the door open.

"Keelah, what was that thing?" Her violet helmet turns to the steamy pile of all that remains. "There's no way that was a human, infected with Thorian spores or not."

Jane can't help the feeling that the creature looked vaguely familiar -_and not familiar in the way that I would see it in my nightmares_. Her eyes go distant as she tries to search for the answer when she hears a soft rumble of agreement to her right, her husband obviously sharing in the same thought of the familiarity and perhaps even knowing where from.

"Commander, I think we've seen these things before." When her green eyes reach his, she sees understanding and it all comes crashing down at the same time as he starts to explain. "We saw these things when we found Admiral Kahoku in that Cerberus facility."

"Damn," she breathes out and clasps a hand to her head, the headache from the heat, the humidity, the long fighting, and strange coincidences pounding to her beating heart. "Everything always seems to add up in one way or another... Guess we never thought about those creepy bastards at the time."

"You _were_ worried about the Admiral, Shepard," Tali assures, her concern clear in her voice even though Jane couldn't see what was sure to be a matching expression to the one on her husband's plated face that most likely will go unnoticed by the Quarian.

Jane nods in agreement before dropping her hand and effectively dismissing any and all unspoken concern. She leads the team towards the now unlocked door, rolling her shoulders in preparation. "Alright, you each have a handful of gas canisters. Use them when you can and if you can't, try not to shoot to kill but don't take chances." She looks over her shoulder as the door starts to lift. "Vakarian, you say you're a hand-to-hand specialist, so take them down that way if it comes to it."

She sees his nod in assent from the corner of her eye just as she turns to sight of the entire cargo hold of the colony filled with over a dozen of the strange gray monsters. Four colonists at the top of the hold and shooting from an elevated position force the group to back up and outside the hold, using the door and the entrance as cover.

As expected, the colonists seem mindless enough under control that they don't adjust to this, instead giving Jane and her crew a chance to work only on the charging entities. She lifts and throws those who get close, giving Garrus perfect shots at those suspended in the air and Tali the chance to focus on the few that make it through the biotic barrage. Fortunately enough, they don't seem as durable as she expects and many just crumble into a mess of green ooze from the force of her attacks.

Soon, they are only left to face the colonists and Jane comes up with a plan. "Garrus, I'm guessing you have a pretty good arm compared to Tali and I." He lifts a brow, but nods. "Good, I'm going to distract them while you try to move up the side and get on their level. When you have a clear throw, get one of those babies right at their feet. Questions?"

Tali lifts a hand in objection. "Uh, I don't see any cover. Wouldn't that be a bit dangerous to run out there?"

Normally, Jane wouldn't take one of her crew questioning her lead, but she knows Tali's only confused. "Well, I'm hoping Vakarian moves fast considering he's got grasshopper legs, so I just need to use my barriers."

She smirks at the mock insult in Garrus' scoff. "I don't even know what a grasshopper even is…" He peaks around the lip of the door frame before pulling back. "They haven't moved, so now's the time, Commander."

She nods as he holsters his rifle to replace it with a gas canister, the object seeming so small compared to his large hand. He takes a moment to heft it between left and right, testing the weight and probably gauging what he'll need to do to get it to its destination. Satisfied, it seems, he looks up to her, eyes clearly not happy with her plan to take fire though he'd never say, and gives her a stern nod, the signal for ready.

Without further pause, Jane's body glows as she focuses her energy around herself, enveloping her body in a bubble of biotic protection, and she turns the corner and bolts down the path. The colonists do as expected, all four switching their gunfire to follow her as she leads them away from the fading sound of her mate's own heavy footfalls in a rhythm so different from her own.

Not a moment later, she hears the hiss of pressurized gas and coughing, followed by the thumps and bangs of what she hopes is neutralized colonists. Turning on her heel, her breath pants out of smiling lips at just how wonderfully that stupid plan worked without any harm to herself, she sees Tali move out of cover to join Garrus as he checks to make sure the gas worked.

"I have to hand it to you, Shepard," Tali says with a smile in her voice as Jane ascends the incline to the others. "It was quite entertaining to see you run like that. Almost as funny as the way you dance."

Jane snorts at that, knowing that that stiff shuffle she showed the crew during one of their shared meals wasn't really how she danced, and the fact that their third squad mate is only one person on the ship that knows the truth. Though, she's also pretty damn sure that she'd rather be known as the commander who can't dance for shit than the one who learned to dance by stripping.

"What can I say? I love to entertain."

After ensuring that the gas worked, or at least it seemed to by their quick exam to make sure the colonists were still breathing, they form up again and move forward. The elevator takes them up the colony, where they find more of those creatures, though not in such a huge number, and clusters of colonists stationed in positions to try and keep them from getting any closer.

Luckily, the layout of the tunnel system and remaining structures of the colony make it so that Jane doesn't have to use tactics of distraction like down in the cargo hold. She's pretty sure Garrus would kill her if she tried anything like that again so soon, so the close quarters and the chance for her and Tali to use the gas definitely seem beneficial.

Towards the Borealis, the ship that they found is actually sitting on top of the entrance to the Thorian, their luck shifts to what they should expect and they find that they don't have enough gas canisters. With one left and four colonists still firing from their cover, two close enough together that it's possible they can both be taken down by the single canister and the other two so far apart from any others that they pose the real problem.

"Shit," Jane curses from behind her cover, ducking back down after returning fire enough to distract and having an idea come to mind. "Garrus and Tali, on my mark I need you two to send a tech shock to both of the targets on the outside. Tali, you take the one on the right that's ahead of my position and Garrus will get the left." She waits for an affirmation before continuing. "Then comes the fun part… Time to put that hand-to-hand to work, Vakarian. Rush your target and take them down." She glances over to make sure none of the colonists have moved position, which they haven't. "I'll take out the right."

Reluctantly it seems, they agree and she moves to put the plan in action, holstering her shotgun and withdrawing their last gas canister. With a deep breath to collect herself, willing her surging adrenaline into her limbs in expectation, and, on the exhale, she pops out of cover, throwing the gas over the metal barricade of the two and yelling out her command.

In fluid motion, she sees her companion's arms light up in orange flame as they each send a stunning shock to their target, her own body vaulting over in time as she sees her mate do the same in her peripheral. Sights focusing only on the colonist before her as she sprints to his position, now knowing how fast he'll recover from the stun to open fire, and she shoulder charges him.

He stumbles back as her hand goes up to his at the trigger, squeezing and twisting at the wrist to the point that she's sure she probably broke something. He drops his weapon and, probably due to the Thorian's control, seems dazed long enough that Jane spins to his back, locking her right arm around his neck. With her left, she tightens the hold and feels his body struggle, then go limp as he losing consciousness. She lays the man down and sees across the way to see Garrus do the same to his own colonist.

Without needing to be told, Tali takes to the crane controls for the ship while Jane and Garrus take the time to regroup, scanning the area for any unexpected contact. The moment gives Jane a chance to nudge him in silent appreciation for the clean take-down. Sure, she knew he was good at close-quarters, but she never gets to see it up close, so she never really knew what to expect.

The loud grinding of metal pulls her from her thoughts as a section of ship lifts up, revealing a descending tunnel that looks like part of the ruins of the ancient city. She pats Tali with a nod in unvoiced appreciation, but a low growl from Garrus at her right has her spinning, her hand pulling her weapon up and at ready.

Jerking towards them, like just walking was a chore, is Fai Dan, his face pulled tight. "I tried to fight… Tried to hold back… but it just gets in your head." He looks up, his eyes red and cheeks wet from tears. Tears Jane knows has nothing to do with sadness, but the intense pain etched in his features and lacing his tense voice. "You can't imagine the pain, Commander."

Jane lowers her gun by a small fraction, putting her trust in the Turian at her side and knowing he won't hesitant should things go sour. Fai Dan mumbles, his hands twitching. "They trusted me… Trusted me to keep them safe." He pulls up his pistol, but his muscles are tense as he fights himself. "It wants me to stop you… I can't…" His agony shifts to anger. "But I…I won't."

Knowing the look in his eyes, Jane drops her gun and takes a hesitant step forward, but something tells her there's nothing she can really do as she watches the man struggle with himself. His body spasms as he fights a battle in his own mind, trying to regain some semblance of control over himself. She sees the flash of regret in his eyes as he lays the barrel to his temple and screams in defiance before pulling the trigger.

Tali's gasps echo in her ears with the register of Fai Dan's gun and Jane can do nothing more than sigh in defeat even though the man had made a choice. Would it have been right to force someone to deal with the pain when they had already given up? It was obvious in the man's eyes that he felt there was no saving him, perhaps because he thought he had no choice or perhaps because, ultimately, he had seen the signs and done nothing, as Jane now saw once all the pieces of the puzzle were in place.

"Come on," she says with a nod towards the underground entrance. "Let's kill this thing and end this."

The passage down into Feros were creepy, the only sounds besides their own steps being that of shifting dirt and dripping along the metal supports. The one thing in its favor was the benefit of the chill that set against the slickness from the wet air outside, cooling them and helping to ease the discomfort from Jane's undersuit sticking to her sweaty skin. The lack of enemies, however, unnerved her to no end and made all three weary.

They see light and make their way towards it, seeing as it opens into a large and cavernous room. The smell of rot and earthy decay grows thicker as they approach and sticks in Jane's throat, making it so that she can even taste it on her tongue. She can't imagine how bad this smells to her mate as she sees his nose twitch in discomfort and mandibles clamp tight in attempt to block it out as best he can.

Tali brings up her Omni-Tool as they walk, the interface showing a basic layout as she speaks. "This seems like the most likely place for the Thorian. We just need to find it and…"

Their steps slow and come to a stunned stop as they finally come face-to-face with what they can only guess is the Thorian. Suspended is something Jane would never have guessed as a plant of any kind as it seems to pulse and ooze, as if breathing. Her mouth opens in vague disquiet as she hears her Quarian mechanics airy, "Keelah, what is that thing?"

With a soft clink of plate that Jane can only assume is a disbelieving mandible flick – she certainly can't pull her eyes off the _thing_ in front of her to actually look – Garrus adds, his voice not entirely as confident as he'd probably want. "None of my C-Sec or military training covered this."

"Join the club," Jane responds softly without real thought as she steps forward to try and get a better look at just how their supposed to destroy this thing.

A disorienting grunting and gurgling fills the chamber, making Jane's skin crawl and her toes curl, but she continues to scan the tendrils that seem to holding the bulbous, organ-looking mass above. She hears a heaving and looks down to see tendrils shifting and oozes, like a slimy mouth for lack of a more accurate description for something that seems not entirely plant or animal.

With a gush of fluid, that has Jane holding back a gag, a body falls from the Thorian, landing in a crouch. She suspects another one of those nasty gray bodies, but sees otherwise, much to her surprise, when the figure pulls itself up to present itself as that of an Asari, though clearly not due to both its green color and 'birth'.

"Invaders!" she says in flat anger that makes Jane narrow her eyes. "Your every step, a transgression. You are seen as nothing more than meat, purpose only to decompose or dig." She drops her head and scowls under her brow, her movement not fluid as a normal person's should be but very reminiscent to that of those gray creatures.

"I speak for the Old Growth, as once for Saren. You are before and encompassed by the Thorian." She raises her arms in an odd appraisal of the room. "It commands you to stand in awe!"

Unimpressed by yet another person – thing- that seems to be full of themselves – itself, Jane holds in her sarcasm enough to make her own demand. "Save your high and mighty bullshit for someone who cares. Just tell me what you told Saren."

"The Old Growth spoke to flesh for the first time in a long cycle, trades were made. Saren sought knowledge of those from long past. Cold ones began to destroy the flesh that would tend during the next cycle, flesh given." A seeping noise from the Thorian as she pauses, almost like the two are communicating. "The Old Growth sees the air you push as lies, it will listen no more."

"You enslaved colonists and destroyed their minds. You're done talking?" Knowing that's all she'll get, even though most of it is nothing but nonsense anyhow, Jane accepts, her hands glowing a subtle blue. "Fine by me. I was done talking to you anyways."

The Asari shaped thing starts to threaten against that with assurances of the Thorian's power, but she doesn't get far before Jane charges a throw and slams her with it, tossing her off their platform and down into whatever pit lies below. Her crew turn at the sounds of cries from the _other_ lifeforms this Thorian seems to produce and she too moves her attentions towards their flank.

Through the gunfire, she sees that this chamber actually has levels along the sides that spiral around. The creatures actually help her and her crew in pointing that out by running along the paths as they try their attack. Clearing the way, they start to wind around the spiraling ramps and it is in a small room that Jane finds a large trunk of the thing anchored to the wall.

Figuring that this must be how it's supporting itself, and really because 'why not?'- Jane opens fire on the pulsing base of the thing, trusting in Garrus and Tali to cover her from any attack. After enough pressure, it bursts in a sickening wet pop, and a shrill shriek pierces the air._Well, if that isn't the sound of something getting one step closer to death, I don't know what is._

"Shoot the fucking zits, people," she orders over the sloppy sound of the Thorian 'giving birth' to another of the green Asari. "Send this bastard to hell where it belongs!"

Even without a response, she knows they understand as they move further up the corridors of the chamber. They follow the same pattern of waves of mindless gray bodies and occasion Asari, Garrus and Tali covering Jane while she destroys the anchor or vise-versa depending on who has the better shot at it.

With a final scream from the mass that rings against the stone and metal of the cavern, Jane destroys what she hopes is the last of the tendrils anchoring the Thorian in its throne. Her hopes are answers when a heavy vibration rumbles through the building, overshadowing the inhuman screams of the monstrosity and signaling its loss of hold.

Jane makes it to the ledge of the level just in time to see it fall, its last attempts to struggle in vain, and enter the abyss below to the sounds of low and deep wails of defeat. The sheer pleasure of seeing it go and hearing its dying shrieks are almost enough to help her get over the disgust still in the air from the smell or her headache from the day, but not quite.

Just as she thinks it's over, she hears more slurping and she spins, raising her shotgun up. _What the fuck?! I just killed the damn thing._

Despite everything they've already seen with the Thorian, the last thing Jane expected was something new as she watches, for the first time today, one of the pustules on the wall start to flex. She'd seen plenty of those things when they were trying to destroy the damn thing and not one had moved the entire time, so she wasn't taking any chances as she cautiously approached.

Suddenly, it bursts, even making Jane step back in the closest she'd ever come to actually getting startled on mission, and out falls an Asari. This one, however, is not like the ones before. Her skin is the usual blue and when she rises on shaky legs, her face actually shows emotion, confusion and exhaustion.

"I…I'm free," she says, her tone not devoid of emotion or thought like those from the Thorian, even if she has the same face and voice. Her eyes land on Jane and her crew and they widen in surprise before she quickly composes herself a bit. "I suppose I should thank you for releasing me."

With a raised brow, Jane glances at her mate without turning her head and sees him deep in observation, most likely seeing all the differences in this woman she had and trying to figure out just what the hell that meant. Turning her attention back to the slumped woman, Jane questions, "Speak. Who the hell are you? And don't try to pull one over on us."

Green eyes against purple blink in stunned silence before she stutters. "No, I won't do anything. The Thorian is dead and I am myself again." She pauses and lays a hand on her chest. "My name in Shiala. I served under Matriarch Benezia." A quick flash of sadness crosses her features. "When she allied herself to Saren's cause, I did the same. Benezia foresaw the influence Saren would have and had joined him in hopes of leading him towards a gentler path."

Now that the fight has ebbed, Jane's adrenaline is giving way to her constant headache. _Man, bullshit really takes a lot out of me._ She can't help it as she rolls her eyes and interrupts the woman. "Yeah, yeah. Cut the noble cause crap for someone who actually gives a shit for your excuses. Benezia sided with Saren. You sided with Saren. Benezia's dead and it all depends on what you tell us that'll determine if you get the same."

With a soft frown, Shiala shakes her head once. "We underestimated Saren. We can to believe in his cause and his goals. The sheer strength of his influence is cause for great concern. It is his ship. A warship unlike anything I have ever seen nor heard of before. He calls it Sovereign and it can dominate the very minds of his followers."

Shiala starts to explain of Sovereign's power and the more she speaks, the more Jane is reminded of Benezia, of what she had said in her few moment of clarity. She had spoken of Saren having a power of minds, a way to control like whispers and how it was strongest the closer he was. Could it be that the key to his control of others is as Shiala suspects? Could this ship, massive and unlike any Jane has ever thought existed when she saw it on Eden Prime, really have the capability to sway minds even as powerful as a Matriarch?

"Saren knows you are searching for the Conduit as he is." She continues, now to the point of why she was traded to the Thorian and what Saren had hoped to gain in return. "He attacked the Thorian so that you could not gain the Cipher."

"A Cipher?" Tali looks to Jane, confusing in her bright eyes.

"The beacon on Eden Prime was meant for a Prothean mind. Visions are unclear to those not Prothean, but the Cipher can bridge that gap." Shiala frowns as she gazes at the now empty cavern where the Thorian once rested. "You must think like a Prothean to comprehend. The Thorian was much older than any culture we could imagine and, thus, it was able to absorb those around it once they perished. It became a part of them."

_Why do all Asari go on-and-on about voodoo, mysticism shit?_ Jane rubs a gloved hand against the pain at her crown. "Just cut to the chase. What's the Cihper, how do I get it, where is it?"

One look at Shiala tells her that she won't like the answer and she holds in a groan. "The Cipher is the very essence of being Prothean. It cannot be described or explained any more than you could describe color to one without sight or sound to those who can never hear." Jane tilts her head back in exasperation and she hears a soft rumble of concern and shared sentiments come from her right as the Asari _continues_ to speak.

"There is a way to transfer the knowledge of the Cipher from my mind to yours, as I did with Saren." That snaps Jane to attention. _Why didn't you just say so?_

When Shiala takes a step forward, however, Jane pales at the thought of what she knows, and absolutely, dreads will happen. The Asari steps into her personal space and starts to speak, her words drifting and losing any actual meaning as Jane feels herself being inevitably pulled away from and, at the same time back into, her own mind. She knew she'd have to meld one day because of the damned beacon vision and she's only giving in because it's part of her mission, but she sure as hell doesn't have to like it or willing accept it.

She will, however, not submit if Shiala gets pushy and tries to invade her own memories. This is one way and if she so much as hears a single whisper of voices like she did with Liara before everything went to shit, she's kicking the Asari out and sucking herself back behind her mental walls. There is no way in hell she's reliving another bit of her past without her say.

Like a sudden drop into cold, her body goes numb which wouldn't so bad if the next thing didn't come, but she's never that lucky. Dull probing that create a thunk against her skull starts before melting the sensation of something – something wrong – burrowing under her scalp to peak like blunt beaks at her head. She knows that the groan she thinks come from her mouth never actually forms as she feels the tendrils of another finally pierce through the barrier, entering her mind to flood her with images.

Machines, flesh, screams, and pain. It's the same as she's seen from Eden Prime and she can't understand why, what's the point of this damn meld if she isn't seeing anything new? Then, as if in answer to her questioning, she feels an intense pull in her stomach and her diaphragm feels like it's in freefall.

Suddenly, a bright light engulfs her and she's dragged back, the force in her belly shoving her in reverse. She flies through unknown space, any distinguishing features drowned out by light in her eyes and though she squints against it, she cannot see more than a shadowed silhouette of a black planet. Darkness engulfs her and she sees a shape much like Saren's ship writhing in the dark before it is snuffed out to be replaced by barrages of voices, too many to pick apart or comprehend.

With a jerk, Jane feels like she falls back into herself as she forces apart the connection, the sudden end sending her to wobble on her feet. She doesn't protest when strong hands grip her, her mind reeling from the effort to kick the blue bitch out of her head. Her pulse pounds in her temples, at the base of her skull, over her forehead – pretty much over the entirety of her head – and she sees the confused and searching look in the dark green eyes before her, not wanted to know how much those eyes figuratively saw.

She hears a growling voice speak, the words incomprehensible but the tone of command and barely contained anger obvious. She can't focus on the exact source of that voice, or the high one that responds, though she knows she's well aware of that fact. Her eyes blur and the room spins, draining her strength to rest more in the comforting, but oddly shaped, grip on her body. The last thing she sees is silver accompanied by that growling voice, this time almost sounding worried, before everything fades to black.


	43. Chapter 42

-Garrus-

He knows his reaction on Feros will most likely come to haunt him, but Garrus can't seem to find it in himself to care when the image of Jane suddenly dropping keeps repeating in his mind. Even with as close as he and Tali where to her, he wasn't expecting her to collapse and he had no choice but to rush to her side, not thinking as he throws his own rifle into the strange muck covering the ground in efforts to catch her.

The dazed look in her eyes looked all too familiar to the one she used to have on those nights so long ago when she'd wake screaming in his apartment. He had had to hold her down in those episodes to keep her from hurting herself and it hurt him to see the lack of recognition in her as her eyes searched his face before finally calming. That was _before_ their relationship had ever gotten close to being what it is now, so when he saw that same confusion in her strained features, it was hard to fight back his distressed harmonics and keep his face from revealing anything amiss besides concern for his commander.

Thinking back, he is probably lucky that it was Tali on that planet and not another member of the crew. Her own reaction was similar enough that he's sure she didn't notice the appearance of what could be construed as over-protectiveness for a mere friend or superior if thought about hard enough. Hopefully, her age and lack of experience with his own kind will only lead to her not even knowing the subtle nuances of a Turian protecting his mate.

In reality, the amount of time he had let his mask slip was so minute that he's not sure even he would have caught it if he saw it happen to someone else. He had collected himself, drawing from his training to calm his rapid pulse and present an air of stoic calm, and, with some help from Tali, managed to carry Jane back to the ship.

Her reaction to the meld was odd, to say the least. Not that he had ever really had an experience of melding with an Asari and definitely not to gain whatever it was the Cipher was. It could have been the fact that Jane was gaining some knowledge not normally known, as Shiala had put it, but he'd never heard of someone being drained as his mate was.

He couldn't help the low growl, that only the blue woman would have heard, that passed through his teeth as he gripped Jane as she struggled to hold herself on her own feet. He may not have known if the Asari was truly at fault, but he certainly wasn't going to give her the feeling that he approved of the outcome of her efforts. If it hadn't have been for the urgency to get Doctor Chakwas to look at Jane, Garrus isn't sure he'd have been so willing to let Shiala free to do as she pleased on the colony. She _was_ in her situation because she had sided with Saren, after all, and it wasn't their fault that her loyalty had proved to be ill-founded.

Garrus now finds himself prodding at a very unappetizing pile of dextro mush, the color and lack of smell coming from it not doing anything to help settle the unease in his gizzard from the fact that Jane still hasn't come out of the Medbay. It has been over two hours since he and Tali brought her in to be seen and, though she had woken when they arrived, she has yet to emerge. What the doctor could possibly be doing to his mate for this long was only making the tension in his back worse, an ache that felt like Wrex was sitting directly on his spine pulsing with each beat of his heart.

Feros had been brutal on all of them, it seemed, with Tali's heavy pants over the comm that he could only assume was because of the heat from the planet on top of her own suit's stifling nature, to the way Jane would cringe and rub her head when she thought no one was watching, the frequency and pressure steadily rising with her shortening temper. The moisture in the air had seeped into his armor and settled in his plates, causing them to swell and soften, but without the chance to air out or dry properly, they ached and itched.

He's sure that the extended period of dampness will certainly have caused his plates to start molting prematurely and it's partially why he hasn't taken to removing his armor yet, the process of shedding the ruined keratin bound to happen right as Chakwas decides to let Jane go. Because of that, he's willing to stick to simply shifting around in his seat ever so often to relieve the itch in order to keep an eye out.

"Keelah, Garrus." Tali motions a hand in front of her face in imitation of fanning the air as if she's heard his thoughts. "You stink."

Raising a brow, he replies, "You were down on Feros, too, Tali, and I don't see you cleaning off your own suit." He points at a particular smear of green that's caked itself to her and sees her eyes narrow. "So I don't see the point in not getting something to eat first."

She scoffs and motions towards his plate. "Like you're even eating that. I had to spend longer in the Medbay than you did checking to make sure I didn't have any ruptures, then I managed to make my food, sanitize it properly, and eat it while you've only seemed to turn your plate into some indistinguishable pile of mush." She crosses her arms with an exaggerated huff. "It's rude to play with your food like some child, so the least you could do is go clean yourself."

"How do you know I stink? For all you know, this could just be the way I smell naturally." He grabs his plate, not really up to having it in front of him to only worsen his nonexistent appetite.

"You're worried about her, aren't you?" Garrus starts, but is proud to have hidden his reaction, only keeping to a slight flicker of his mandibles that's hidden by both her angle at the table and his turned back.

"I am too," she continues, not noticing his earlier reaction. "She's one of my few friends, one of the first people who was actually nice to me outside the Flotilla, and I can't help but worry about how badly she reacted on Feros to getting the Cipher." She looks up to him as he returns to the table, her eyes narrowed in what he's come to see as a smile. "Even if she's such a Bosh'tet for always teasing me."

As if knowing they were talking of her, the Medbay doors swing open in a hydraulic 'swoosh' and a voice rings out, amusement laced in her tone. "Who's a Bosh'tet?"

Tali lets loose a small squeak that has Garrus and his wife grinning as she rounds the corner into the mess area. Most of the crew that weren't on the ground team are either at their posts or, in the case of Jane's squad, in their bunks after spending most of the day on watch for Geth or Thorian controlled colonist in case any attack was lead against the Normandy.

"Shepard," Tali scoots her empty container away from in front of the chair that Jane takes at her side. "We were just talking about how we hoped you'd be out of the Medbay."

"Oh, so _I'm_ the Bosh'tet." Jane smirks and leans back in her chair. It's nice to see her relaxed after the long day they've had and Garrus can even see a smoothness in her forehead and between her brows, a sure sign that she no longer seems to be suffering from a headache. "Wow, Tali, I thought we had something." She lays a hand on her chest in mock hurt.

"See, that's what I mean." Tali points an accusing finger and starts piling her tray up with her trash. "I don't know why I put up with you."

"Because she's charming and gives you nice shotguns?" Garrus adds with a smirk of his own at the Quarian's upset.

"Keelah, not you too. It's bad enough I get it from her."

"Tali, my girl. I don't have nothing on him." Jane steps up and grabs the containers Tali missed in her haste to remove herself from the two teasing her. "At least I don't put bugs in your tools."

He flicks a mandible at the memory of scary Tali by putting one of his Kerra in her mod kit, the prank very similar to what he used to do to his own sister with bugs from his mother's garden. He watches his mate help Tali dispose of everything from his seat, rumbling softly as he sees Jane smile and light-heartedly shove the girl after she says something. The two women share something more, their expressions a bit more serious and Jane nods in what looks like understanding before they make their way back to the table.

"Thank you, again." Tali wraps her arms around Jane's shoulders, his wife tensing for a split moment before smiling softly and returning the gesture. Garrus tilts his head at the shift in emotions radiating off the Quarian, joy and gratitude. The look in Jane's eyes silently assures 'later', which he takes as explanation enough before Tali pulls away with a soft sniffle. "I won't forget this, Shepard. I thank you- my people thank you."

Jane shrugs and waves a dismissive hand. "Don't worry about it. Consider it my own appreciation for putting up with my shit, taking everything I say with stride." She smirks and nods towards him. "I can't help you with him, though."

Tali huffs a laugh and nods, taking her leave before her voice gives out. Garrus doesn't mind the weird direction the conversation took when the two had walked towards the mess and Tali didn't seem to be in distress, so he doesn't push the issue as he watches her retreating back, followed by the stuttering of the lift as it descends.

After a moment of silence, Jane turns her attentions to the mess, probably looking for food. "Well, now that that's out of the way, time for some food." She opens the freezer unit and sticks her head in. "So, what color of bland dextro paste did _you_ eat today?"

He snorts at that, knowing all too well that that's really to only way to distinguish them. They certainly don't have flavor to give hint as to what they are imitation of and they _definitely_ don't look like anything edible. "I would guess that I probably had 'Gray Sludge Number Eight', but I couldn't manage to force it down."

She tilts her head enough so that he can see the raised brow before she returns her attention back. "Seems like you had something else on your mind."

"Whatever could that have been?" He leans on the counter beside the freezer. "It _may_ have been something about the fact that you had been hiding what looked like a horrible headache from me… or it could have been the fact that you blacked out from the meld."

He sees her shoulders tense before she sighs. "Yeah… I think my migraine was from the heat and humidity. The meld though, damn that was a bitch."

He hums in understanding, knowing the answer before he asks. "What did she do?"

"She started digging, that's what. I knew it too because it started to feel just like it did with Liara. I tossed the blue bitch out, no way I was going through that all over again." She looks up with a guilty smile on her face. "Guess that only made my headache worse, huh?"

He shakes his head. _Only she would forcefully end a meld._ "I wouldn't say it's the best way to end something that like." He exhales deeply. "Jane, what if it did more than make you pass out?"

"Look, I already got the lecture from Chakwas and Liara." She lifts up and looks to him, her eyes pleading. "I really don't want to get into it with you, okay? I know it was stupid and blah-dy, blah-dy, blah… but I really just want to get something to eat, take a shower, and relax."

He nods, not really in the mood to fight this with her anyways and more than willing to admit to himself that he was more concerned with the fact that Shiala, in a sense, violated his mate's privacy by prodding where she didn't belong. Just knowing that that was why Jane put herself at risk is infuriating and all the more reason he regrets letting the Asari go, but seeing his own exhaustion mirrored in Jane easily drains him of anything more than the want to give her that relaxation she wants.

"Alright," he says and she smiles. "I didn't want to waste our time talking about it, anyways."

"Great," she chirps before turning her attention back to finding some food. "Would you like something too?"

He sees her wiggle her rear in the air and he rumbles at her obvious tease. "No offense, Jane, but I'd rather not."

"Ah, come on, now." She shakes again and he flicks a mandible. "I think I have something in here you might like." At that, he huffs an unimpressed laugh and slaps her on the ass, making her actually giggle at the fact that he did what she obviously wanted.

"At 'a boy, Garrus," she says with a smirk as she finally closes the freezer, two containers in her hands. "I was wondering how long I'd have to stand with my head up the freezer before you got the picture."

Shaking his head at her taking so long just for that bit of satisfaction, he merely watches as she prepares her food- or at least, he _thought_ it was her food. He's shocked to see a high grade dextro ration in her hands as she preps its heating unit with a knowing smile in her downturned face. "Where'd you get that?"

"Remember when I told you that I'd get you some better quality food on our trip to the Citadel?" He nods. "Well, I distinctly remember you and Tali all but inhaling what I got and ending up going through them way before any levo rations ran out. I couldn't get you guys anymore without looking suspicious, but I _did_ manage to hide a few for you."

She smiles and hands over a tray with his own food on it, still not the kind of food you could get from an actual place on the Citadel or Palaven, but something that actually looked edible and not like a uniform pile of processed paste. Still stunned, he lets her lead him to the table, ignoring her amused chuckle because his mind's just too occupied with the thought of something that isn't like forcing down tasteless slop.

They eat in relative silence, the only interruptions being his attempts to get out the location or knowledge of more of the possibly hidden rations, but she always dismisses him by refusing to 'reveal the location of her stash.' He doesn't know whether he should be upset or overjoyed that she managed to hide some away, but he's definitely sure that he wants to try to find a way to eat where it's just the two of them, that being the only time she could safely offer him one of the higher grade dextro meals.

Normally, he'd offer to give some to Tali, but she's already said that all she has are for a carnivore diet, which are more geared toward Turian diets than Quarian. The only real consolation to that is that it kind of makes sense as to why he ran out of food before Tali as Jane must have taken some of his long before the dilemma of running out came up.

After their meal, the two cleaned their places and made their way up to the showers. They had heard Tali enter while they were eating, most likely to wash the grime from her suit that she couldn't manage with her own cleaning tools. With that in mind, Garrus isn't surprised when Jane accesses the locks to her own Omni-Tool, locking the shower area away from any additional bathers but themselves. He's only ever seen her use the trick a few times, sometimes when he's there to give her company and something alone, and he knows it's because she wants a chance to relax outside of her cold, personal cabin.

Once she discards her casual Alliance uniform she always wears on the ship, she helps him ease out of his own armor, helping to pry the pieces from sticky plates not yet loose enough to shed. She doesn't react to the difference in his plates from his more natural molting to this, the plates a bit slimy and tacky from not getting dry before they actually start to peel off. Instead, she pushes him under the warm spray and messages the places he aches the most, against his sore hide or along his tight lower back. He moans at the pleasure she pulls from his body, the effect of her tiny fingers turning his stiff body into jelly. Even when she reaches places on his body where he pulls away, the pain of the pressure against the worst of his aches nearly crippling, she persists, kneading with determination until the knots loosen.

When he is panting, his head against the cool tile and knees trembling, she smiles and takes his head in her loving hands. She draws him towards her and kisses him, her lips sickling his tongue before pulling him in to dance with her own pink one. The kiss isn't rushed or heated with pent up tension, his body too tired and sore to demand more, and she only seems to want to feel him, taste him. She pulls away from him enough to lay soft kisses along his mandible, her lips curved against his plates in a smile.

Enough strength comes back to his limbs to take her in his arms, holding her against his body long enough to feel her arms wrap around him before holding her out so he can do the same to her. He starts at her shoulders, rubbing small circles around and over the bones of her shoulder blades. She flexes into his hands, a silent signal to move upwards and he knows what she wants more than anything. Taking her head into his hands, he figures she must still be hurting from whatever she felt down on Feros.

Starting by kneading tiny circles at her temples, he watches as her eyes drift closed and she tilts into his hands. Playing off of all the places he watched her touch and message during their mission, he alternates his motions across her head, messaging from her temples, to her forehead, to between her brows, to her scalp, and even underneath her jaw and around to the base of her neck. It doesn't take long before he feels her body relax fully against his chest and he can't help the soft thrumming that accompanies his nuzzle into her hair, pulling a relaxed chuckle from her lips.

They don't need anything more from the other, not tonight with their bodies so drained from the day, both physically and mentally. By silent agreement, he doesn't push her about the melding, not questioning why she was so afraid to have the Asari pry or what the Cipher did, and she doesn't question him about his near slip away from her rule of professionalism in the Medbay from his internal battle at waiting to stay by her side, which he's sure Chakwas has mentioned.

He walks her to her cabin, nudging her forehead with his own just inside the doors. He can't bring himself to enter more because he knows the overwhelming smell of her in the room will work against his already faltering control at not spending the night in her quarters. If the sad look in her eyes is any indication, she feels the same as she bites her lip in effort to hold back the words they both know he'd be more than willing to obey.

Instead, she sighs in defeat. "We are heading towards a planet called Eletania. The Alliance sent me something about a data module or something." She shrugs with a barely hidden smile. "To be honest, I was too tired to actually read too much into it aside from giving Joker the location. I'll have better info when we drop."

He chuckles and leaves a light nip on her lips. "I'm ready for whatever you manage to find."

She mock glares, but snorts a moment after. "You're such an ass. I'm not the only one going out there and getting shot at, you know." He raises a brow, unimpressed. "Fine, fine… just do what you do best, then."

He purrs and nuzzles against her jaw, leaving a soft nip at her cheek before pulling back. "I'll always have your six."


	44. Chapter 43

-Jane-

"Tell me again why we couldn't just run the bastards over with the Mako?" Jane groans as she swats at a particularly annoying bug that she assumes passes for a fly on this planet.

"Because that'd be unusually cruel?" She raises a brow, though it's hidden beneath her helmet, and looks over her shoulder at the Lieutenant as he climbs up the rocks behind her. The tracked the signal for the probe's missing data storage to this cave carved into the side of the mountain and from the looks of it, it seems to be a den for the strange primate-like creatures.

"I'm okay with it so long as I don't have to clean the Mako's undercarriage," Garrus adds as he scans the darkened cave, his eyes adapting to the light shift faster than her own. He turns to her with a nod in silent assurance of no hostiles and no traces of anymore Geth like what they'd already had to face on the surface.

"Alright people," she says as she leads them further into the natural alcove, following the tracker. "The signal brought us here to this…"

She takes a step closer towards the indicator, ducking into a smaller room-like structure, when it suddenly hits her straight in the face. Completely negating the fact that she's wearing a full faced helmet and rebreather, the strong smell of ammonia and waste nearly knock her off her feet, making her gag beneath her helmet.

"Oh… God, Shepard," Kaidan coughs, waving his head in front of his face like it'll stave off the assault. "Please don't tell me it's in here."

"Alright, I won't." She closed the tracker, the room only being about half the size of her cabin on the Normandy. The back wall of the chamber seems to have at least two levels with small tunnels in the higher wall and the signal points their target somewhere along it. "Kaidan, you and I should take the upper level and see if we can find it in those holes. Garrus," she turns to see him staying well away from the room, not even going so far as to enter. She rolls her eyes. "Garrus, quite being a pussy and get your ass in here."

He leans his head down below the arch of the entrance. "I'd prefer to return home one day to actually smell something that isn't Pyjak dung." His helmet rolls to examine the 'doorway' in the wall. "Plus, I don't even think I can fit."

She snorts, nudges Kaidan over, and reaches through the hole, taking a good hold of her husband's armored cowl. "Get your ass in here, Vakarian." She tugs and hears his unamused grunt accompanied by a soft thunk as he tries to dip his head. "We are a team," she grunts, fighting his stubbornness under the guise of getting him to fit. "So we are all going to suffer…" She gives one hard yank, admittedly with some biotic assistance, and finally gets him in, irritation in his frustrated growl. "Together!"

"That was actually pretty entertaining, Commander." Alenko chuckles from his place at the back wall, probably trying to determine how to get up. "Though I'd hate to ask how we're getting him out."

Jane shrugs with a smile under her helmet, knowing that Garrus is going to be the first one out of this stinky hellhole, being nearly to the Mako by the time they barely confirm that they have the data module. "That's part of the fun, Alenko."

She turns back to Garrus as he follows her towards the back wall where Kaidan is testing some rocks for hand holds. "Now doesn't this make you miss C-Sec and all its non-smelly paperwork?" she asks sarcastically, knowing full well the answer before he says it.

He snorts. "You think this is worse than paperwork? You obviously never had to fill out the forms for indecent exposure charges for a Hanar."

Her stride stutters at that. "Wait, what? How can a race that doesn't wear any clothes get an indecent exposure charge?"

"Please don't answer that," the Lieutenant pleads, dropping back to his feet with an exasperated huff. "Shepard, I don't think we're getting up this wall. There are no rocks sturdy enough to support us."

He turns to her, his fists falling to his hips in frustration, as she turns her eyes up to the ledge above them. It isn't so high that, if they found a way up, they couldn't get back down without injury, so climbing down the wall isn't an issue. Suddenly, her eyes widen with a quick gasp at the great plan that just materialized.

The two men look to her, the soft sound of her discovery piquing their interest. "I don't know if I'll like what that noise means," Kaidan confesses while her mate simply nods in agreement.

"Oh, come off it." She waves a hand against their protest and takes a step back from the wall. "Kaidan, my man, I hope you brought your wings because you're going flying." Her body glows a faint blue. "I'll toss you up and you can boost yourself the rest of the way with your own biotics."

"Wait, wait, wait." Her pulse dims as she turns to Alenko to hear him out. "Why don't I just lift you up there? No offense, but you using the word 'toss' doesn't really give the impression that I'd like how the landing is going to feel."

She rolls her head to exaggerate her hidden eye roll and shifts her shoulders in a huff. "Kaidan, I didn't mean I was going to throw you around like a rag doll. I'll be gentle, I promise." She smirks under her helmet. "Besides, I sure Vakarian is more willing to lift me in light armor than you in light armor. What are you, ninety to a hundred kilos, at least?" He gives her a half-shrug-half-nod. "Yeah? Well…pretty sure I'm less than that." She turns to Garrus. "What do you say, Vakarian? Me or him?"

He tilts his head and she holds in the snort at what she's sure is him saying, 'like I even have much of a choice'. He turns to Kaidan with a nod. "As much as I know the Commander depends on me to carry the team, I'd rather only have one of you breaking my back."

Jane laughs at that and unclips her weapons from her suit to lay them on a particularly clean rock. "Alright, Garrus, enough flaunting. Get to searching while I get Alenko up the wall." She focuses her energy again, concentrating on a task she hasn't really had much need to continuously practice with her method of combat.

With an assuring nod from Kaidan, she pushes her biotics from her body, down her hands, and into the surrounding aura that the Lieutenant created with his own biotics. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she lifts the man a fraction of space at a time, repeating in her head to take it slow at not use her power to sling him across the chamber. Her energy drains faster than she could imagine, a stark reality that she definitely needs to practice this delicate lifting more often, and with a final grunt and thump, she opens her eyes to see Alenko on top of the higher ledge.

"Wow, that definitely feels weird when it's done on you," he calls down. "How you doing, Shepard?"

She rolls her neck, the muscles stiff from the sudden rush of energy as it dissipated back into her body. "Like shit," she huffs out with a soft laugh, "but it's better than turning you into a smear."

"Funny," he dryly remarks, turning to explore just past her sight. "I'll look around here if you want to eat a calo-bar."

She snorts at the thought of forcing one of those nasty, cardboard tasting, pieces of rock through her helmet's filtration system. "No thanks, rather not add the taste of disinfectant to the already shitty taste of those bastards. I just need to catch my breath for a second." She looks over to her husband glancing her way and gives him a reassuring nod. "Besides, I'm pretty sure Garrus isn't in any hurry to lift my fat ass up the wall."

"In that case, better cut back on the calo- Arhg!" Jane blinks for a split moment in confusion at the Lieutenant's yell before she sees a glowing blur fly through the air, smacking a wall with a squeaking wail before in lands and scurries off in a dazed panic.

She laughs her arms wrapping around her ribs and leaning her back against the wall so she doesn't fall into what she's sure is alien monkey shit, realizing now what the hell that just was. "Jesus Christ, Lieutenant," she manages to pant. "You didn't want me running them over and yet here you are throwing across the room!"

"I change my mind," he grunts through the comm that now has her husband's own amused rumbling. "Those things are just as bad as real monkeys."

Sucking in air, she tilts her head up towards the man above, his arms crossed over his chest in what's obviously a pout. "Hold up, Alenko. You're telling me you have a thing against monkeys? I mean, yeah, it's annoying that they took the data, but tossing them across the room?"

She smile at his responding groan as he runs a hand through his hair. "Look, the thing landed on my hair. I panicked. End of story."

She busts out with another loud peal of laughter, holding herself back to get him to clarify. "So you're telling me it's like old cartoons where the woman thinks a bat flew into her hair?"

"No," he drawls out, making sure he speaks loud enough to get through her amusement. "I just had this… thing against monkeys since I was a kid." She calms down enough to listen, her fast breath the only thing left for him to try and talk over. "My parents took me to a zoo when I was little and a monkey scared me when it jumped at the glass. I was a kid, so of course I freaked out. Didn't really think I'd react quite like that to be honest."

She looks up to see him staring off towards where he threw the purple and blue space monkey and chuckles. "Well, it's certainly not the worst phobia I've heard of."

"Humans and phobias of animals," Garrus says. "I don't understand. I mean, venomous animals, sure, but aren't monkeys typically harmless in terms of everything else?"

"Not when you think about rabies!" Kaidan yells down from his perch, now back to half attempting their search. "And there have been stories of attacks." His voice drifts off to low mumbles in frustration and not too quiet shuffling of rock.

"So, phobias are sometimes irrational?" Jane lifts a brow at the tone of his voice, picking up that he's trying to lead the Lieutenant somewhere. "Humans don't always fear something that can actually hurt them?"

"Don't you say another word, Vakarian," she snaps, knowing that amused buzz in his vocals all too late. "I told you what I'd do to you and the threat still stands."

"Shepard is afraid of something?" Kaidan's brown eyes poke over the ledge. "Who else knows?"

Her mate hums in mock thought, blatantly ignoring the glare she's sending through her helmet at him. She knows he's trying to lighten the mood that seemed to descend into the Lieutenant's self-berating over something seemingly irrational, but, dammit, it's not like she wants everyone on the damn ship knowing what she hates.

"Latrine duty for anyone who speaks another word not having to do with finding that damn module!" She sees the two males turn back to their work, but does manage to catch Alenko's light hearted chuckle. She nods a silent thanks to Garrus when he catches her over his shoulder, which he returns with one of his own.

She flips open her Omni-Tool to check the tracker again, just to make sure their luck would have it that the module was on that blue rat, and sees that it's still within their area. Following the beeping, she walks towards a wall, nearly stepping into a pile of shit and jerking her foot away mere millimeters before unleashing the horrid smell into the rubber of her boot.

"Sounds like the frequency is more steady the closer to the wall you get, Commander." Garrus walks up behind her, a hand on her shoulder to still her as he tilts his head to the side. It's a typical Turian gesture she's only seen him do a few times, turning an ear to a noise before switching to the other, and she knows he can catch the subtleties in the tracker's beeps that her own ears can't. "I'd say it's in this area. Wouldn't know until you get up there, though, about which level."

She lifts her head, closing her Tool, and examines the ledge. It's shallow and she sees that Kaidan can't get to it from his own place because the ledge narrows to nearly nothing about a meter between their locations. "It's risky, but sure. Boost me up."

She sees his hesitance in the tensing of his muscles, he obviously sees the same dilemma of little to no room up above, but before he can protest, Kaidan clears his throat to get their attention. "Uh, I know you probably don't want to hear this, but…" he takes a deep breath, collecting himself, "what if the things didn't _carry_ the module here?"

Her brow lifts under her helmet, her mind rushing through what he's getting at. "Please don't tell me you're trying to insinuate what I think you're trying to insinuate."

He holds his hands up, palm to the sky, with a shrug, not needing to explain her fears. The module _is_ small enough to fit inside her own palm, so it isn't all that ridiculous to imagine, it just isn't _pleasant_. "Fuck me sideways," she groans up to the rocky ceiling of the room. "Usually, I'd make sometime buy me a damn drink if they're going to fuck me as much as the Universe seems to be doing."

She ignores the grunt from her mate at her side at whatever imagery that possibly brought up- and by the sound, it wasn't too pleasant- and walks along the walk, trying to figure out just how they're going to do this. "Kaidan," she says without looking up from counting the few piles of space monkey shit at her feet as only three - _thank God for that, at least_, "are there any sticks or something up there?"

She had hoped that the little alcoves in the wall were possible nests, or dens, or whatever the hell you'd call it for Pyjaks, but she knows the answer before Alenko even responds back with a "No, ma'am." She sighs and looks to her gloves, her lips rising in disgust. "Shit… which one of us has gauntlets that can clamp off at the wrist?" She looks to Alenko, who shakes his head no, then to Garrus and smiles, biting her lip, at the low growl that's all the answer she needs. "Alright, Vakarian, looks like it's you and me. Just think of it as digging for gold."

"I don't really want to _think_ about anything besides the fact that you owe _me_ a drink after this," he bites out with a disgusted growl to his vocals. She pats him on the back in silent assurance because she definitely isn't going to make him do it alone, even though she should after the stunt he tried to pull by trying to tell Kaidan about her stupid fear of roaches.

"There, there. Just clamp your gauntlets shut and yank of your gloves when you're done." He turns a black helmet towards her and she can almost see a raised brow plate through the metal and ceramic. "It's either dig through shit or give me a piggy back _and_ dig through shit when I don't find anything."

He sighs heavily, ducking his hands into a pouch on his suit, pulling out a pair of gloves, and handing them to her. "Here, hold these. I don't really want to have to go through decontamination just to make sure nothing's on my plates and hide." Her mouth drops as she stares at the gloves in her hands, suddenly realizing what she, until now, completely hadn't thought about. Reading her mind, she hears the low rumble through her comm. "You don't have an extra set of gloves, do you?"

"Shepard, we might not want to push it with those things getting on your skin." Alenko has gone back to searching, frantically it seems in what she hopes is him trying to prove his own theory wrong and save them digging through fresh feces. "I would offer some, but I don't really carry extra gloves around. No offense to Garrus, but I never really thought I'd ever need multiples on a mission."

She turns to Garrus, her mouth opening in assurance that she'll be fine until they reach the Mako, but he shakes his head in silence, his shoulders rising with a heavy breath as he nudges the gloves into her hand. "Don't risk it," his looks seems to say. "Just hold those and I'll do it."

She nods in silent understanding, her fingers of one hand lighting squeezing his before releasing during the short exchange of gloves. The move isn't really noticeable to their third companion from both his position of to her side, to his back being turned, and the fraction of an instant in which it happened easily being hidden by him handing over his gloves. With a huff, he turns towards the piles and crouches, the visuals of his visor most likely showing him signatures of heat. She would hope the warmest would be the one they want, but who knows with their luck.

"Wait," she lays a hand on his plated shoulder just as he reaches for one, her head tilting in expectation of getting away from the smell, even though it won't help through a helmet. "Are you sure you don't want to look up there first?" She motions up to the ledge in a ditch effort to delay what she hopes isn't the inevitable.

"As much as I hate to admit it, it's either get this over with now or do this after breaking my back to get you up there and you didn't find it." He raps his gloved knuckles against her shin plate. "Now calm down before you make me lose my nerve."

She can't watch, closing her eyes to the disgusting sound of his fingers squishing into the shit, his groan matching the tensing of his shoulders so close to her side she can feel the shift against her armored thigh. Standing here and having the smell the rush of waste hit her face is the least she could do for him as he does what's probably one of the worst things she's ever asked of him, even compared to nearly freezing to death on Noveria or gaining a concussion from a trip in the Mako.

"Did you find anything?" she grits out, her eyes watering as she turns away.

"Nothing _solid_," Garrus snaps, obviously less pleased with the way his life has turned out knuckle deep in some pile of fecal matter on some far off planet, looking for some stupid data for a military that isn't even his own. _God, I love this man. Shitty hand and all_.

She huffs out a laugh as he pulls his fingers out with a loud shucking noise. Looking at the way he holds his own hand as far as his arm can manage, she's really glad she paid the extra credits when she bought this suit to make them water resistant. She considered the extra material would be more durable and protect him from the elements, but she can't deny the added benefit of not having to actually worry that the monkey dung is getting through to his skin.

She looks over to her side to see Kaidan approaching the edge of his level, her eyes widening at what's in his hand. _You've got to be kidding me!_ "Hey, uh," he starts but stops at her exasperated head shake. She rushes over and snatches it from his hands as he hands it down, the speed and ferocity of the move leaving splinters in his gloves, despite the thick material.

Garrus turns and sees her rushing to his side with the now-discovered stick. "I hate you," he says with a growl in his voice as he stares at the object in her hand, whether to her, to Kaidan, to the stick, or to the whole damn situation, she'll never know.

He jerks the stick from her hands, the movement heavy with what she knows is his every being screaming to hurry up and get the hell off this planet. He definitely has more patience than she ever would, having long since thrown in the towel and said, 'Fuck it. You win this time, Universe.'

It doesn't take him long to finally find the module in the feces on the floor, nearly jamming it into her chest for her to wash it off with some water before putting in a pouch of her suit. Kaidan hops down from his perch, groaning when his own knee lands in a pile and managing to get a chuckle from her husband, enough to ease his mood as he replaces his soiled gloves with his fresh and clean ones. Rinsing Kaidan of any droppings he unintentionally landed in and leaving Garrus' old gloves behind, they hike back to the Mako.

"So, are we going to see what this weird signal is on the radar?" Kaidan asks, his voice soft as if even he isn't confident on the question. She understands his reluctance, as she's sure her own mate probably wants nothing more to do with this mockingly beautiful hellhole, and sighs, trying to figure out if it's even worth it.

"What the hell…we'll go check it out, see what the anomaly is. If it's more damn monkeys, we'll radio the Normandy." She gets more comfortable in her seat and hears her team mate's buckle their harnesses. "If it's Geth, then we'll let Vakarian take out his frustrations with the cannon. Sound good?"

She gets an affirmative from the two men and starts off in the direction with a smile under her helmet, the group advised to not remove their face protection until on the ship in case high concentrations of the microscopic spores or whatever the hell they were got into the cockpit. Kaidan directs them over a large mountain ridge, the two not even having enough energy to complain about her driving from what they had to go through in the cave, until they finally see a strange structure with low hills on every side. She manages to get the Mako close enough that they don't have to climb too far down the rises and she squints through the data feed at what they found.

There's a round platform built into the ground with spire-like structures around the perimeter, some not even higher than her own height from the looks of it while at least two rise up into the sky at a height that looks longer than their tank's length from nose to thrusters. The oddest thing, however, is a seemingly floating ball of shiny metal set in the center of the platform.

It doesn't even seem like it should belong, but her damned curiosity isn't satisfied with just seeing it at this distance. However, her instincts aren't screaming against getting closer, so she doesn't really see why not, even if her common sense thinks this could end up horribly. _Damn it all. I wish I wasn't my own worst enemy sometimes_.

With a sigh, she disengages the tank's engines, setting it to idle and allowing the hatch to unlock. "Alenko," she says as they unlatch their harnesses, "get Joker on the line and tell him we're going to need an extraction." She drops down and looks down at the floating object that even reflects the hills around it like a mirror. "Let's get a better look at this thing."

Still observant of possible enemy contacts, she takes out her pistol, the weight of it in her hand at her side better than if she would approach with nothing, and Kaidan and Garrus at her back do the same, the hiss of the magnetic catches of their suits disengaging reaching her ears. They stay at her back as she steps up onto the platform, the silvery, almost liquid, orb now easily bigger than the whole group as it levitates from some unknown force.

The air has a light charge that licks at her skin much like another biotic would if they created a barrier around themselves, so she assumes that this object must be floating because of some element zero interference. She's never seen something float before without the tell-tale glow of blue and violent, but she's never claimed to be an expert.

Jane tilts her head this way and that to try as she examines the surface of the object without actually having to touch it. Whatever it's made of that also happens to give it the look of fluidity gives her a weird feeling that she shouldn't get too close, but when she crouches to see the underside of it in attempts to see how it manages to stay afloat, she sees something that catches her eye.

Along the underside is a strange indention, like a piece of it chipped off or if it has a slot where something lies on its surface. She holsters her weapon in order to use her hands to lean lower to the ground, still not wanting to touch the thing but still not about to fight her damned curiosity. Getting closer, it looks like a slot of sorts and something about it looks strangely familiar.

Just at the same time of the sudden revelation, she hears the whirring rush of air as the Normandy enters the area, moving into position to pick up their group and the Mako. Stepping up to her feet, she looks up to the sleek body and links in her comm. "Joker. Change of plans, tell Liara to suit up and come down with that thing the Consort gave us."

"Oh ho, Commander," she hears his rasping voice respond and smirks. "I never took you for the kind of kinky to 'Embrace Eternity' on a planet full of suffocating microbes." She hears some clicking of commands as the ship levels out near their position and within walking distance. "Be sure to take pictures for the rest of us not so fortunate individuals."

She snorts and puts her hands on her hips, knowing her husband is probably fuming under his helmet at the attempt to keep himself from responding to the pilot's jab. "I would, but you wouldn't have the amount of credits I'd be asking."

That shuts him up as he merely scoffs before shutting out the connection. While they prepare to wait, Jane hands Kaidan the module to be sent back to the Alliance, knowing his terminal back on the Normandy is the best to pull the information. He nods in silent understanding, the man smart enough to read her intentions and not really need a verbal order. Sure, she could've given it to him on the ship or back in the cave, but, for one, she figures there's nothing else to do while they wait, and, secondly, she just hadn't thought of it when she was too concerned on getting the whole out of the noxious stink.

After a bit, Liara makes her way down the hill and seems to actually see the orb about halfway, her light gasp in the comm making the three turn to her just in time to see her movements speed up. They all cringe in sympathy of the expected as they watch her shuffle and climb down in a supposed hurry, obviously knowing more about what they found than either of the two humans or Turian.

"Goddess," she pants as she finally makes it down. "I can't believe you found one."

Her helmeted head doesn't even notice the three as she makes her way to the floating ball and stares up at it, her hands laying on her rapidly rising chest as she collects herself. Jane, not privy to just what the hell is going on, deliberately steps before Liara.

"Liara," she says sternly, her foot stomping and, finally, drawing the awed Asari's attention. "Yeah, hi." She smiles sarcastically under her helmet, frustrated and just wanting to go back to the ship. "First thing's first, what the hell is that thing?"

Liara looks over to the other two of their team. "Oh, I'm sorry. I just got so excited I forgot myself. In my studies, I had read about this orbs that the Prothean's used to collect data. Not much was written about them and I actually think that it's technology they adapted from a culture before their own." She steps around to look at the orb again and Jane rolls her eyes. "Remember when I said that I had a theory that there were other cultures besides just the Protheans? Ones that came before?" She doesn't wait, continuing just as Jane opens her mouth in protest to cut it out with the academics. "I think this is a technology that they had gained from one of those cultures and adapted it to fight their own needs."

"Great," Jane deadpans. _On and on. I swear_. Laying her helmeted head into her palm, she takes a deep breath. "Now, did you bring that… whatever the hell it was that the Consort gave us?"

Liara turns her head over her shoulder to the question, silent for a moment as if she was suddenly jerked from her thoughts –which is probably true- before she nods emphatically. "Yes, yes. Here."

Jane takes it with a nod in thanks and returns to her place below the orb, hoping her suspicions are right about the connection. Holding the trinket in her hand, she removes the band of string looped around the dull silvery silver of what she had, incorrectly it seems, thought of as some kind of stone. Holding it against her palm and up under the orb to compare it side-by-side with the sliver on its fluid surface, still not wanting to touch it unless absolutely positive.

Emerald eyes jerking from the object in her hand to the moving surface of the floating object, she starts to see the once-dull surface of the Asari's gift start to simmer and shift, taking on the event of movement. In no time, the two are perfect mirrors of the other, letting Jane see her own armored body and helmeted face in the surface of both the small river of silver in her hand as well as the sphere of silvery ocean in the air.

_I'll be damned_, she thinks with a disbelieving huff. With a quick look to the three of her crew as they stare in awe, the two men's weapons lowered in their grip as they too watch the transformation of inanimate objects. Without anything in her head screaming to stop, Jane inwardly shrugs and lays the Consort's trinket into the slot, feeling more than hearing the soft clink and click of it fitting into place before her sight blinds out into white.

_I come to slowly, the pounding in my head the first thing for my gradually waking body to comprehend. Groaning, I shift to clasp a hand to the source, feeling a lump under the missing and tangled nest of hair that hasn't already fallen out or been yank out in a fight._

_Opening my eyes, I take in the trees and brush I've been hunting since gaining adulthood in my family, my tribe. Pushing myself up to my knees, I see my spear at my right, the bone from the animal I killed for my first hunt gleaming in the light, the thought of needing to sharpen it as soon as I return back to our home carved into the side of the hills running through my head as I reach for it, the weight and worn texture of its staff familiar. Too drained to stand on my own, I use the spear to stand, jabbing the flat base into the ground and gripping it hard as I use it to pull myself up._

_Panting, I hear a noise unlike any I've heard. The sound making the hairs of my arms rise and I look up to the sky, my eyes flitting around to find the source, to see if I should run or fight. Flying above me, high in the sky and blocking the fire in the sky from burning my eyes, is the strangest creature I have ever seen. Nothing in our elders' paintings or stories could describe the bird that flies without need to flap wings that are not there or have no head with which to hunt its prey, to see the world from its realm in the sky, yet I know it watches me._

_Confused, afraid, and angry, I cry out in a roar, my spear in my fist raised high in my hand as I yell at it, threaten it down from its perch. If I cannot chase it from here, then I will not hesitate to fight it, should I fail, then it will be a death to protect my tribe, and should I succeed, I will bring the biggest feast home. The creature, seeing my strength, rises, the bright light it reveals in my eyes making me squint, but I will not falter. I fight against the burn from the fire in the sky until I see it disappear, a low grunt of satisfied at my success the only response to its proven weakness._

_Missing the safety of my own, I travel home, falling back into the normal way of life for our people. I hunt, I gather, I find a mate and give the tribe strong warriors and hunters. Other tribes fight us, try to claim what is ours, but they fail. Each night I fall asleep and each morning I awake, the creature never again flies above, but I sometimes feel something. Something calls me hand to the lump at my head that never goes, but no longer hurts, and I shiver at the feeling of being hunted, but find no real hunter or feel no real danger, just the feeling of being followed, watched._

_When my children have grown and given the tribe children of their own, the sky changes, the air grows cold. Our hunts are longer and our prey are often weak, small and unworthy of truly feeding all those it once fed. Layers of furs I have never had to carry are necessarily to survive the long hunts that we each must take in turn, constant hunting too tiring for single hunters to manage like before. It is on a white day, the ground covered in cold water that has turned like stone, that the creature I never truly forgot approaches with a deafening yell._

_It is different in sound from any other as it is in sight as the sound makes me throw my hands to my ears in a scream, the sound of its roars reaching me before I even see it block out the sky. As it finally comes to my eyes, its belly glowing red like living fire, I know it has come to finally finish its hunt I thought I had foolishly abated with my spear so long ago. I run, knowing it is useless but not able to fight my every being wanting to life against odds. The white around my feet slow me, glowing red to reflect a glowing red eye open in the creature's belly before I see only black._

Jane came back to reality to the feeling of her eyes dilating rapidly against the light, like coming out into the blaze of midday sun after spending all night in a dark room. Immediately after registering that feeling, she notices the feeling of a shift in her center of gravity, the hard surface against her back instead of the soles of her feet.

Confused and blinded, she throws an arm above her, across her eyes to shield against the blue tinted sun. Bleary visions finally fall into place as she sees Liara close to her side, sitting – or laying, it seems – at her side, and Kaidan is crouched down beside the Asari, offering a hand up. Garrus, as always, is at Jane's side, his strong hand easily taking her searching one as the other pushes against her back as she gets to her feet.

"You okay," he asks, confusion and concern buzzing over the radio comm to match her own thoughts.

"There was a flash of light," Kaidan starts as he and Liara get to their feet. "One second, you were up of your feet and the next, you and T'Soni where in a heap on the floor. Everything only took a minute, tops."

Puzzled, Jane could have sworn she was crouched under the orb. Though, looking at it still hovering there, she would rather not guess what it wouldn't felt like if that thing had fallen or something while was still there.

"I was right behind you, Shepard." Liara rubs the back of her helmet, not really noticing until the last second that whatever ache she's trying to get to is covered. She drops her hand with a huff. "I saw you stand up, but when you stumbled, I rushed to help you." Her white helmet looks up to Jane. "Goddess, you're heavy."

"Careful, Liara. That's not quite something to want to say to a lady," Jane jokes.

The white helmet shakes at one more thing she has to learn about humans before she stops and turns to the orb. "Did you see anything, Shepard?"

Under her helmet, Jane's brows drop down, mulling over just what exactly she saw, what she felt. It was like she was in the proverbial shoes of a Neanderthal, taking in by what she can only think were Protheans and implanted with something. They watched whoever those eyes she had looked through belonged to, but that isn't the worst of it.

She knew that the Protheans had a huge storage of information on Mars, perhaps a research facility for all they actually knew of them and their society. It was massive, the sole reason humans had such advanced technology to the point that they even managed to reach the stars in what is usually considered record time. It, in a sense, directly lead to everything in every human's lives from its discovery and on, the discovery of relays, the First Contact War, becoming a Council species, herself even becoming a Spectre, everything lead back to the Protheans and Mars.

The real dilemma Jane saw with the knowledge from that orb is how long were they really being watched? More importantly, why?

Not willing to fight the headache those kinds of unanswered questions would cause, Jane shakes her head and looks to Liara. "It's nothing, Liara. There wasn't anything in that white light."

Without a word, T'Soni simply nods, the movement soft in her obvious sadness at the answer. The four, finally done with this planet and its deceiving views of habitability, climb into the Mako and make their way back to the Normandy. All of them were more than ready to finally get the okay to rip off their helmets and finally breathe fresh air, even if it gains that definition merely because it isn't recycled suit air that still carries a hint of that horrible Pyjak cave.

-SquigglySquid says: Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out. I got so sick I thought my brains were melting out of my ears and I couldn't read anything without it all becoming a giant blur of a dot.


	45. Chapter 44

-Garrus-

It was just at the end of shift, most of the crew just barely locking up their stations or completing their tasks for the day, when he heard the loud shuttering of the lift coming to life and descending. Normally, Garrus would just dismiss it as someone either calling the elevator down to go get some food or turn or someone heading down to start the late shift, but a familiar sound echoing down the elevator shaft told him otherwise.

He smirks from his position under the Mako at the sound of his wife's voice, currently trying to pry pieces of armor and debris from whatever poor fools or obstacles she managed to find under the tanks wheels. It wasn't too often that she was in such a good mood to actually be caught signing at the top of her lungs on the ship, so whatever is on her mind must be something good. Living with her and getting to know her for as long as he did taught him that she only tended to scream out songs in the oddest circumstances whenever something 'had gone her way' and he couldn't want to hear what she's gotten herself into this time.

He actually chuckles when he hears the lift doors swing up with a declaration from his mate to no one in particular that she's "spoiling for a fight", whatever that means. He even hears the Gunnery Chief's amused laugh echo through the cargo bay, followed by clapping which he's pretty sure is only being rewarded by a flamboyant bow.

"Please, please," he hears the smirk in Jane's voice. "Hold applause, everyone."

"What the hell was that, Shepard?" Wrex asks, clearly _not_ one of the pairs of hands that hand given her an applause. "Sounded like a Thresher Maw dying." Jane snorts softly at that before Wrex stomps close in on the lift and Garrus figures he leaves if the "Shepard" and rumbling lift are anything to go by.

"Damn, Skipper, didn't know you had _that_ in you." A click and low thump signal Ashley probably finishing up cleaning her rifle and setting it down. "Seems like you're in a good mood."

He would crawl out from his position, but he's actually half-way through replacing the shock system, so he just stays under the tank while the soft stomps of his mate's feet walk across the hold. "You're damn right I'm good mood. Finally got myself some good news on a mark I've been chasing."

"Oh? Chasing Saren too boring for you?" Garrus hears the matching smirk in the other woman's voice, so he doesn't take the remark to seriously.

"Got a comm sent through for you, Williams," he hears as the large piston slides back into place with a dull click. "Don't worry, your Fornax issues are safe with me."

That makes him catch his finger between two struts and he inwardly curses. In instances like this, he wishes he didn't have more sensitive hearing than the rest of the crew. Even if he knows his wife enough to hear the joke in her voice and in the Chief's responding laugh, he still doesn't want to _imagine_ the thought.

A moment passes before a high, feminine voice rings out that clearly doesn't belong to anyone on the ship. "Oh, and saw the Lieutenant Alenko on the vids yesterday. He's cute."

His wife's entertained laugh overshadows Ashley's groan. "That one of your sisters, Ash? Sounds like they got it out for you."

Another groan and light sound of datapad landing on metal surface, the Chief dropping her mail on her workstation. "That'd be Sarah. I told you she was the youngest… Didn't think she'd rat me out to my CO. Now I definitely owe her."

"Oh? You and the Lieutenant getting cozy?" Jane makes a weird smacking nose.

Ashley chuckles. "Not like that, or… Not that I don't…" Williams sighs, defeated. "Scuttlebutt has it that Alenko's sweet on someone."

A derisive snort that has Garrus imagining his wife leaning back against the Chief's workstation, her arms crossed, with a look on her face that clearly says that the other woman is in for a lesson. "Scuttlebutt also has it that there's a hidden women's shower with golden crappers and faucets that spray fragrant rose water. Last I checked, I had tits and a distinct lack of something swatting between my legs, but you don't see me pissing in a golden toilet. Don't trust everything you hear, Chief."

Garrus replaces a panel on the undercarriage and finishes the last of his repairs to the undercarriage during the silence that Jane has given to possibly let Ashley think her words over. "So you and the Lieutenant?"

"Please, he and I got that straightened out long ago. There's nothing past shooting the shit with Kaidan. Is it the frat regs?"

A weak huff of laugh. "Yeah, I guess. I mean, we chat and flirt, but we know the rules. There's no reason to worry, Commander."

"Don't 'Commander' me." As much as he doesn't want it seem like he's listening in on a conversation that's shifted as much as it has, he run out of things to do under the tank to make him look like he's actually doing something. He pulls himself out and notices Jane glance over and nod in acknowledgement.

"Look, Williams," she turns back, obviously trying to end the conversation before too much more of the Chief's private matters come to light, "Do you want to know what _I_ think, both as a fiend and as your commanding officer?" The woman nods. "I say go for it. Yes, I'm Alliance, but I'm also a Spectre. Plus, I'm not an idiot, I know that fraternization happens all the time. The two of you are fucking adults, so I don't care who you like, flirt, or fuck because I know you can get the job done. Quite listening to Scuttlebutt and get your ass in gear." She smiles, the creases around her eyes visible even from Garrus' position. "Understood, Chief?"

Williams snaps to attention, a smile to match plastered on her face. "Aye aye, Ma'am."

"Good, now get the hell out of the cargo bay and up to the mess. You're on the ground team tomorrow and I already have two crew members I have to drag upstairs." She motions her head over towards his position, Ashley following the movement with a knowing nod. _Seems to be a running joke that I can't be pulled away from my work, though who could blame me with the amount of damage Jane puts on this Mako?_

With that, the Chief grabs a datapad from her workstation and heads towards the lift. Jane, on the other hand, turns her attention to his own workstation, a scowl crossing her features as she approaches. He pulls himself to his feet to give her a salute just as she comes to a stop and places her hands on her hips, her head nodding quickly to the tank. "You destroying my tank, Vakarian?"

That makes him blink in confusion before she has enough pity on him and points to the wheel he had to remove to make some repairs. "Oh, that." He flicks a mandible. "Turns out that that's what it looks like when you have to repair damage from a helmet getting stuck in the wheel well."

Her scowl shifts to an intrigued brow lift. "What are you trying to say?"

"That you shouldn't run over what we could easily shoot?" She rolls her eyes at the insult to her driving skills, instead waving him to follow her as she takes a seat on the ground and leans her back against its side. He sits down beside her as she pulls up her Omni-Tool and says, "I got some good news. Figure I owe you since you had to dig in shit and we didn't even have any liquor to wash away the memory."

He groans at the smell that still seems to linger at the thought of that horrid cave. "Don't remind me." He nods to her Tool. "I take it you probably aren't going to offer me a round in the Mako in payment?"

Her eyes widen at his joking suggestion before she swats him with a mock glare. "You little… Now that's the first thing I'm going to think about whenever I drive that damn thing." She glances over her shoulder at the metal vehicle. "Now I almost wonder how that'd be…" He chuckles and nudges her to get her attention back. "Right, professionals dammit… Here, it may not be hot tank sex, but I _did_ get you something just as good."

She pulls up a command on her Tool and a panel of information on a ship scrolls above her wrist, displaying make, model type, name, previous and current owners, manifests, and tracking info. His silvery blue eyes scan through it, picking apart the details as his heart starts to beat faster at the connection of everything.

"We found him, Garrus," Jane whispers, her head laying against his shoulder as his own hand moves on its own and singles out the biggest piece of information that falls into place like a bullet, the false name of the worst criminal to ever get away from his grasp, Heart. The interface zooms into that one word under his gloved talons and he finds he can't breathe, the images of what he had seen while running that case flying in front of his eyes.

He doesn't notice the movement of his mate until the soft grip around his hand snaps him out of his recollections. Pulling his hand from the interface and flicking her opposite wrist to collapse it, Jane turns her head to look up at him with her emerald eyes, full of understanding and silent knowing of the turmoil and urgent need that's suddenly sparked in his veins.

"We'll get him, Garrus," she says softly, barely audible over the humming of the ship around them. "He can't run this time." She places a soft kiss along his knuckles and his can almost feel the softness of her lips through his gloves. "We're heading to his ship and be in the system by early morning." She shifts and stands, tugging on his hand to follow. "Now, come on. Let's go drag Tali out of the ship's systems and head up for dinner."

He nods, unable to say anything over the constant rush over everything she's brought him with just once little Omni-Tool screen. He would have never found Saleon, never have gotten even close to what Jane has found, because any power he would have ever had fades away once away from Citadel jurisdiction. Now, though? Now he may finally have the chance to make the twisted doctor pay from the pain and torture he put not only the victims, but their families, in. He couldn't run away this time, and even if he did manage to get away, Garrus knew he and Jane would follow.

Walking into where Tali calls home, Jane clamps her hands around the unaware Quarian's shoulders, startling the girl into making a little squeak noise. "Tali… How many times must I tell you that dinner is at the end of shift?" Jane takes a step back, releasing Tali so that she can turn to face the two. "I already have to drag Garrus out from under the damn Mako nearly every night and now I have to do the same with you and the stupid drive core."

Tali follows with a gasp. "Shepard, the Normandy's drive core isn't 'stupid'!"

His mate shrugs as he presses the call for the lift. "It's either that or you were using our extranet connection to call the Citadel." She smirks and nudges the Quarian. "Which would you rather have?"

Bright eyes narrow under the hooded mask. "Neither."

Jane barks out a laugh and steps onto the lift, waving the others in. "Afraid that's not an option." She jabs the command for the upper deck and relaxes back. "How did it go with sending the Fleet that data from Feros?"

Garrus lifts a brow, intrigued, and looks to the two women who each shrug before Tali answers, "It'll still take a while to actually decrypt it all, but it may give us a lot of important insight into the Geth."

Jane nods. "Still don't why you had to ask me for permission. You _were_ the one who hacked the terminal for that info. I would've just made myself a copy anyways."

Tali gasps at that. "I would never threaten your trust in me like that."

"Why not?" she asks with a raised brow. "You could have always kept it, asked me, and if I said yes, then you would've already had it. If not? Well, tough titties. Not like the Geth information belonged only to the Alliance. Hell, you even said that the Quarians have been fighting pockets of Geth on-and-off since you lost Rannoch, so what's the point in denying that info to the people who could actually _use_ it?"

"But…"

"I trust people to make judgment calls, Tali," Jane interrupts. "I can't have everyone looking to me to tell them how to wipe their own ass. It's not like you kept the information from me and you having a copy posed no harm to anyone or anything but the Geth." The lift opens and she pats Tali on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it."

Jane heads off to the mess, leaving Garrus in the lift with a stunned Tali. "You okay?" he asks, drawing her wide eyes up to him.

"Oh, uh. Yeah." Tali nods, almost to help convince herself. "Shepard's just… she's definitely different."

He huffs a laugh at that, knowing even more about just how different his wife really was. "Well, I can say she isn't what I would've expected in a human Commander."

"Keelah, you just like that she lets you work on her tank instead of filling out paperwork."

He hums at that. "You've never seen what she manages to do that thing. I'd say it's a fair trade."

They enter the mess and make their ways to collect their own preprocessed food just as they hear Jane start to goad Wrex into telling a war story. Garrus will never know why she finds such enjoyment in the old Krogan's retellings, or any of the crew's stories, but he can't complain when her commentary to the tales always get the group smiling and in good spirits. Just sitting here and thinking about to all of their shared meals before, he's sure her claim and not being any good with creating comradery was a complete lie.

Sitting down beside Tali and Kaidan just as Wrex is finishing up his tale, Jane turns to their newest member of the team, the drell assassin who's actually seemed to have opened up in the warm tilt to her lips is any indication. "Well, 12," Jane says with a lift of her glass and a smirk. "Read anything worthwhile?"

At that, the drell's smile widens. "I did, and it reminds me of the Normandy." She lifts her datapad from the table and activates the screen. "It is called "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether"." Most of the table don looks of confusion, Ashley even with a look of possible recognition just beyond her grasp, but Liara hides a smirk behind her hand. His visor flashes that it's a tale from a human named Edgar Allen Poe, but it doesn't help to assuage his puzzlement.

"Alright, I'll bite," Jane acquiesces. "Why does that remind you of the ship?"

"Perhaps she should read it," Liara added with a knowing smile.

With a clearing of her throat, the young girl starts to read, her high voice laced with dual tones still slightly pitchy due to her still maturing form. As she reads a tale of a hospital of sorts from a long ago time on Earth, detailing a tale of a man who visited to learn of some treatment once used before technology advances deemed it absolute. Garrus listens, trying to hear in the words of things he's never heard of and ignoring the translations and definitions from his visor in effort to understand the connection between the story and the Normandy.

It isn't until the story shifts into a strange telling of lunatics that have overthrown their caretakers, claiming the positions as doctors and nurses, that he sees Jane smile and try to hold back her amusement. As 12 reads the last of the words of the ancient tale, Garrus realizes what the young girl is trying to say and sighs, hearing his wife's entertained laughter. _Here we all are being called crazy by someone who hasn't even hit puberty._

"Damn, girl. I didn't think you thought so highly of us." Jane holds a hand out in silent question and 12 hands it over so her green eyes can scan the screen.

"The Quarian is lost." Tali scans the table. "I don't get it."

Garrus chuckles with a shake of his head. "Now I understand the human saying 'the inmates are running the asylum'."

"Aw, that hurts." Jane places a hand on her chest in mock hurt.

"I don't see anything in being a little crazy," Williams says with a smirk and leans back in her chair, now finished with her meal.

"Here, here, Ash." Jane nods and hands back the datapad. "I'd take it as an insult if a ship with a Krogan Battlemaster, a Quarian on Pilgrimage, an Asari Archeologist, a cut-out from an Alliance recruitment ad, an old-school L2, a Turian cop, a teenage assassin, and a cripple pilot _isn't_ considered a bit crazy. I feel like all of that sounds like some lineup for a crazy reality show."

The group laughs. "Aw," Kaidan smirks with a laugh in his voice. "You're forgetting the ring leader, a Vanguard who punches innocent reporters on the streets."

"_I_ certainly wouldn't call her innocent," Liara interrupts.

"Reporters aside," Jane says with an extravagant show at standing and taking a bow. "I proudly accept the responsibility of running our troop of lunatics." She sits and nods across the table towards the white drell. "So, looking at your readings it seems like we found a name for you."

White eyes fall to the table and hands fidget at the statement. "I found some of the imagery in his work very much like how I remember things." Her voice takes on an airy quality as she looks up to lock eyes with Jane. "'By a route obscure and lonely, haunted by ill angels only, where an Eidolon, named Night, on a black throne reigns upright, I have wandered home but newly from this Ultimate dim Thule.'"

Translation flickers over his visor, but Garrus doesn't need it to see the happiness that the words seem to bring the young woman or the matching smile that crosses his wife's lips. He doesn't need to understand what the words mean to see that, to 12, they mean much more than a mere excerpt of a poem.

"Keelah," Tali whispers, "that sounds so lovely, but, also, so sad."

"It's perfect," Kaidan says. "I don't know about you, Shepard, but I think we may have found something better than 12." He smiles at the drell. "That's if you like it."

Red eyes blink in confusion before Jane nods once, firm with decision. "Poe it is." She looks around the table before her eyes fall on the girl in question. "How does that sound?"

"I like it," she agrees with a smile.


	46. Chapter 45

-Garrus-

She comes to him in the early hours before his shift, set in full armor and guns, as he rolls the wheel back to be secured onto the Mako. Her smirk is wide and coy as she removes her weapons from their holsters and lays them on the ground beside his workstation, away from his tools but close enough to stay out of the way of fellow crewmen.

"Figured you'd be here instead of getting prepped for the Fedele," she says as she nudges him over so that she can help him lift it into the wheel well with a grunt, her little fingers unable to wrap around it and leaving her to merely push against the wider struts of the wheel.

He holds it in place and points towards the impact wrench laying amongst his tools. "Someone has to fix the tank so we don't have to walk everywhere."

He holds out a hand for the tool, but she shakes her head with a pouted lip. "That's why I'm down here helping you." He lifts a brow in question and she shrugs. "I figure that I'm already set up in my gear and you practically sleep in yours, not to mention it'd be a crime to even imagine you with an unkempt rifle, so I might as well use this time to help you with the Mako. I am the one causing the trouble," she admits with an innocent smile, to which he snorts.

"What's the saying? 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth'?" he jokes with a nod and motion to come closer. With one of her hands coming up to hold the wheel in place, he frees one of his to flip it on and hand her the metal lug nuts from their position sitting along the well. "Do every other one first, then come back around," he directs as he takes back the weight to free her hand. He glances at her with a flick of his mandible. "I know this may not translate, but just hold it straight, like you would a gun if you're sighting down the barrel."

She smirks at the jab, her eyes concentrating at her task. "Very funny, Vakarian," she says after securing two nuts. "Insult the Vanguard's way of shooting."

"I think it's more _your_ way of shooting. Though, shotguns aren't really what you'd expect for finesse."

She tightens two more, finally letting him relax some of the weight from his arms. "If I was sighting down the barrel of a shotgun, the recoil would knock me out, smarty pants." She leans back and squints at him before a knowing smirk crosses her lips. "Plus, I _do_ hold my gun straight, you're just too distracted looking at my ass in zoom to see it."

He chuckles, glad he had decided this morning to just eat a ration bar in hopes to have extra time to fix the Mako before finding Saleon's ship as it gave the two of them the freedom of an entirely empty cargo hold to flirt in. Most of the crew would be either up in the Mess, catching some breakfast before their duties began, or in their bunks, trying to sleep in just a few more moments or getting dressed.

"I will admit," he purrs in her ear as she sets the impact against the last fastening and a mandible flicks at her light gasp, "it _is_ a nice view."

She swats back at him. "In armor? I doubt that." She cuts off his response with the stuttering sound of metal and hydraulics as she secures the last lug nut with a smirk of her own.

Not to be outdone, Garrus takes a quick look to make sure the pounding of the machine didn't mask the sound of the lift and, seeing that the hold is still clear, shifts up and behind her crouched form. He traps her between his arms and presses his armored chest against her back, his chest thrumming at the soft chuckle she tries to clamp down at the move. "It's rude to interrupt, Jane," he says softly as he nuzzles into the soft skin behind her ear.

"It's the best way to end an argument," she jokes with a pat against one of his forearms in silent order to move, but he persists with a smirk. "Oh? Smart guy, huh?" She looks over her shoulder with a sly smile. "My, my, _Officer_ Vakarian, what would the crew think if they saw this display?"

He snorts. "You think a sniper wouldn't check his surroundings before putting himself in a compromising position?"

A red brow lifts and the corner of her lips spread. "Wrex?" she offers.

Garrus rolls his eyes. "If you remember, I was half frozen and _you_ were the one that lacked the observation skills that night." She mock pouts, her lips puckering in hurt while her eyes shine with amusement, and he leans close again to lick lightly against her cheek. "There, there. I know how to make you feel better," he hums, adding a low growl of seduction to his voice.

"Oh, no you don't," she laughs and shoves him away. He stands with a chuckle and helps her to her feet, taking the impact wrench from her hands so she can reclaim her weapons. He packs his tools away while she finishes and takes a look up at the large ground vehicle.

"I have Ashley talking with Tali and Adams about a reclamation tool for Saleon's ship. You know, one of those things you put into a ship's cockpit console that stalls it without disabling the live support systems so someone can come take it in."

Garrus nods. Though her terminology is off, he knows what she's talking about. In instances where a ship needed to be impounded by C-Sec or taken under military jurisdiction but there was no crew capable to fly it in the immediate vicinity, a transportable VI program could be transferred into the ship. It would maintain safe internal pressure, air supply, and other life support systems as well as keeping it safe, keeping it from falling into any gravitational pulls or drifting from a manageable location.

It isn't used often because there's always a risk of someone on the ship being able to hack into the system and regain their ship or, even worse, pirates or slavers finding the technically defenseless ship and taking advantage. That, however, isn't what causes him pause as he lays a halting hand on his wife's shoulder, causing her to turn with a raised brow and quizzical look in her eyes.

"You aren't planning on letting him go, are you?" He winces at the harshness of his vocals, cursing himself for already letting his hate for the Salarian butcher seep into him even before they docked with his ship.

A flash of confusion crosses her features before it quickly dissipates into understanding as she shakes her head with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Garrus." His hand loosens from her shoulder and she grabs it before he can let it drop back to his side. "This bastard won't get out of our little meeting. I just thought that if the Alliance takes his ship, maybe they can do something about the people he took hostage when he escaped."

He closes his eyes and grips her hand in his, knowing the true meaning in her words. They both know anyone Saleon came in contact with since he escaped is most likely long gone, but he knows she's secretly hoping to give whatever remains of their families some sense of closure. The thought that he'd want to know if he was ever in their place is all that keeps him from considering just blowing the whole ship out of space, so he'll have to settle with taking it out on the doctor.

He feels the soft pressure against his cheek and mandible, the woven texture of her glove so different from her soft skin, and he opens his eyes to see so many of his own emotions running through the green oceans of her eyes. "Hey," she says softly, "It ends here, Garrus. I won't stand in your way, but I need your head in the game." She smiles weakly and stands on her toes to nudge her forehead against his.

He hums in acknowledgment and presses back against her, "I'm behind you, Jane."

She smirks and steps back. "Wanting another chance to look at my ass, huh?" He twitches a mandible in agreement and she snorts. Motioning towards the lockers in silent order to suit up, she steps aside to let him move but still stays by his side as she debriefs him. "Pressley says that what we got from transport officials say he is going by the name Heart." He raises a brow at that and she shrugs. "Yeah, real wise guy… Anyways, manifest reports are sketchy, but it seems like he may be the only occupant on the ship. He didn't claim anyone when he docked for maintain and fuel, but the ship is a small ship, so that didn't raise any suspicions."

"So there's no use hoping we'd find his old employees," he says with dejection as he violently shoves his pistol into his holster. "A bullet is too good for what he deserves."

Jane sighs and leans back against the closed lockers, her eyes lifting to the ceiling of the hold. "He _deserves_ to be cut open and left to bleed to death like he did to others." He looks up with surprise at her vocalization of just what he was imaging in his head and she smiles half-heartedly. "I know you, Garrus. You shouldn't look so surprised that I agree with you." Her smile shifts as she bumps him with her hip. "Though I do like when you get all worked up and growly."

He snorts, looking down the scope of his rifle before collapsing it and latching it to his back. "And you expect me to concentrate…"

She shrugs with a shift of her wrist, an orange glow illuminating in her palm. "Joker," she says into the communications channel she just opened, "what's our status?" She pauses, most likely listening to the pilot on the other side of the connection, before she nods. "Good, dock with the ship and send Ash a hail to meet at the airlock."

He closes his locker just as she turns to him, quickly looking over his gear before nodding and waving towards the lift. "The Fedele isn't responding to any hails. It's silent except for basic functions and a generic distress signal, but there's no sign of forced entry so this bastard should still be here. With hope, he's expecting some rescue and a safe haven, but he's in for a hell of a surprise."

They step into the elevator and he hits the command for the upper level. "But you're expecting trouble, else you wouldn't have suited up in your medium armor." She raises a brow and he taps the armor plating on her upper chest that runs over her neck. "Your light armor doesn't have this protection."

"Huh," she says as she tries to look down at what he pointed out, rapping a gloved knuckle against the smooth polymer. "Didn't think you looked that closely."

"And here you are claiming all I do is look at your rear," he jokes as the lift comes to a rolling stop and he turns to her before the door slide up and open. "Though, _I'd_ prefer you wear medium armor for _every_ mission, not just the ones you think will be dangerous."

She shrugs dismissively, but he catches the smile on her lips that tells him she'll 'consider it'. It isn't the exact response he would've liked, but it's better than her just saying no outright.

They make their way up to the command deck, past the CIC, and meet up with Williams as she's doing last minute checks on her assault rifle. Patting her on the back, Jane moves to hit the entry to the air lock. "Joker, disengage lock until we radio in the okay. We don't know what's in this ship, so I'd rather be safe than sorry." She steps into the airlock and nods at whatever the pilot says over her comm.

"Williams and Vakarian," she says, turning to them as her Omni-Tool lights up, "radio 6." He and the Chief follow her orders, setting their comms onto her frequency and hearing her voice as it echoes through the comm as she directs her attention to Ashley. "Like I said, we're going after a sick son-of-a-bitch who tortured people, but this has a personal connection for Garrus. This bastard slipped out of his hands, so we're taking care of him ourselves."

"This the bastard that cut people open?" the dark haired woman asks to Garrus and frowns at his nod. "Damn, I'd say let me shoot the frog bastard, but I get it…" She doesn't say more and instead turns to his wife with a stern turn to her lips. "Behind you, Skipper."

Green eyes meet his crystal blue and he nods in silent ready before disengaging his assault rifle to the sound of the airlock announcing their entrance into the Fedele. Shotgun up and ready, his mate stalks down the empty entrance hold, each of the three sets of eyes scanning the room and finding no hostile presence.

Coming up to the first doorway, Jane glances out before returning. "Williams, move before Vakarian. We have a hallway before we reach what's most likely the cargo hold. I want staggered approach until we get out in the open."

They each nod their affirmative before she moves around the door and down the hall, aligning herself with the right wall while Ashley follows while staying to the left wall. Being last, along with his height over the two women, he's able to see the entire field ahead down the center of the way and over their shoulders. He watches as the door opens at his mate's vicinity and sees her move to take cover against one of the crates he can see from his position. Williams is next before he too leans against the first crate in the hold with his two human squadmates.

"Fuck, this place is creepy," the Chief whispers.

"I hear you," Jane distractedly responds. Garrus can see her peeking from cover in attempts to see anything, but he can tell from her frustrated face when she turns back that she can't see anything.

He shuts off his comm for a moment and tilts his head, trying to focus his attentions away from their group and across the hold. According to the data they received on this ship, this is the largest section of the ship, a large room to hold supplies with a passage at each end. If someone was going to set an ambush, then this cargo hold is the most strategic place.

He sees a slight movement at his side in what looks like Jane laying a hand on Williams to halt her from saying something. He closes his eyes just as the two turn to him, a question in one woman's eyes while the other smiles, and concentrates for anything other than the hum of engine through the metal of the crates.

The first thing to come to his senses is the soft smell of infection, rot, and he fights his nose plates from flexing, kicking himself to try and focus. Trying to locate the exact location of the smells, he places its origin most likely in this room, but it doesn't seem to be having a signal origin. His brow plates draw down at the familiar smells of blood, as old as it may be, but the most confusing aspect is the knowledge that the blood carried hints of smells not just from one species. He smells the harsh spice of Krogan, the sweetness of human, the oceanic sting of Asari, the bitterness of Salarian, even the metallic familiarity of his own kind, and clenches his fists at the thought of Saleon being the cause of it all.

He almost misses the soft sound that hits his ears through the multitude of metal, his rage nearly deafening him. Opening his eyes in shock, he listens to the soft mumbling and sobbing of someone, their vocalization garbled by fluid. Looking down to the others, he can tell from Ashley that they don't hear it but that Jane sees his change in expression.

"What do you hear, Vakarian?" she whisper-asks, her eyes concerned.

He flicks his comm back on, just in case, and motions with his head towards the noise possibly at the other end of the hold. "It's hard to pinpoint, but there's someone in pain." He clamps his mandibles against his chin to hold in his growl. "There's a lot of blood here, Commander."

She frowns with a nod in understanding. "We figured that," she says in a way that seems more like thought than actual conversation. She inhales deeply and shifts her hold on her gun before glancing to the Chief and then Garrus. "Go back to one-and-two pattern. We're in close quarters so watch your fire if shit heats up. Let's move."

Garrus takes position over her right shoulder as Williams takes her left, keeping her shotgun out instead of switching to her rapid-fire rifle. Traveling through the maze-like structure of crates in the cargo hold and closer to the smells and sounds, Garrus takes note of how some of the crates lay open, their contents nothing more than matted down piles of shredded bedding material and the noxious smell of rotting waste. Wordlessly, he watches as Jane motions to each with a head tilt and look over her shoulder, a troubled look in her eyes and nods in silent agreement, _something is horribly wrong about this._

Coming around the last crate and out into an open area at the end of the hold, all three of the soldiers stutter to a stop at the sight before them. Huddled in a group, shaking and making weak noises of pain, are about ten figures. Though it's hard to tell from the severe mutilation done to them, the group seems to include at least four Turians, two Asari, and four humans. Most of them are turned away, their hands at their mouths as they seem to be eating at something.

Hearing the soft gasp through their comm from the Chief, Garrus looks to his wife to see her biting her lip, her eyes shifting over the forms as she desperately searches for how to move forward. He whips his head back to the group before them at a gasped cry to see one of the Asari being grabbed by the other, her eyes tearing and widening in panic as the others shift attentions to her trapped form, low growls and mumbles falling from their bloodied lips.

Startled into action and in unison, the three soldiers snap out of their shock and move forward, rising barrels up as Jane commands. "Hey, knock that shit off!"

Instantly, the Asari is dropped to the ground and all nine sets of eyes turn to their group, the sounds of the Turian's vocal shifting in Garrus' ears. He heard the growls when they circled the Asari, the growls associated with madness in his kind, a violent state of mind that can't be saved, and he knows Jane has no clue what she's trying, fruitlessly, to talk sense into. The humans and Asari, now including the one tossed aside, he thinks they can manage, but they aren't a match in the open as he catches the Turians slow to fall behind the others.

With a sound scream- part fear, part pain, part anger- the humans and Asari take to a run. Acting on instinct, Garrus watches Jane force out a throw into the group before jerking the two women towards another opening that'll lead them back into the maze of crates. Ashley's eyes narrow in anger, but she doesn't speak as she instead shifts her attention back to the advancing horde, shooting blasts of her shotgun into their unarmored bodies. Jane, perhaps trusting his intentions, doesn't shift her attention from the field, lifting what she can while shooting those that get through.

"Shit, theses crazy fuckers take a lot of hits," Williams grunts out as she switches her overheated shotgun for her assault rifle. Garrus fires into the crowd to cover her, but tries to keep his focus for any potential ambush from the four Turians that managed to get lost in their hectic move to better cover.

"They don't feel pain, Ash." Jane's face is flush and she's panting from her use of biotics to try and control the crowd. "Head shot them when you get a chance," she orders as she shoves the barrel of her rifle under the chin of a human missing his nose and pulls the trigger, splattering the others with a mist of blood and brain matter.

Hearing the soft echoes of growls over the gunfire, Garrus decides this fight is putting them in a position too dangerous and for far too long for his liking and grabs Jane on the shoulder as she's charging a throw. He shoves her back at the same time as he steps before her, shooting from the hip into the charging Asari and hitting her with his rifle's rapid-fire, getting hit in the neck, another shot taking off her nose, and the third and fourth piercing her forehead.

"What the hell, Vakarian!" Williams demands with a shove. "They teach you to disrespect your commander's in the Hierarchy."

He ignores her and turns to Jane, a low hum of agitation in his chest. "We need to move. This position in compromised."

Her eyes widen for a split moment in understanding before she nods. She grips her gun and starts her way out towards the door, the only direction they can go that won't be like walking straight into four predator's kill zone. "Do you have any lead on them, Garrus?"

There is a small crate before the door and they take cover behind it, not willing to go through the entry and create the perfect trap for the four hunters. He switches to his sniper rifle, the scope equipped with better scanning technology than his visor, in hopes that it can pick up at least some of the Turians' signatures through the dense crates. Scanning the hold, he catches only a signal heat signature in the middle of the hold, directly in front while still being out of visual. "I got one, but that's it."

"Shit," she groans and rubs her head in frustration. "Listen to me." He glances down and actually sees that searching look he hasn't been witness to since they started this entire subordinate / commander role on the Normandy. "I know you know what's going on here. I need you to tell me what the hell we're dealing with."

Wincing at the fact that he'll not only have to remind his wife that he's from a predator species, but also he less that xeno-friendly crewmate, Garrus scans the three entrances to the crate tunnels one more time before answering. "I guess it's pretty obvious to say that all of these people aren't sane anymore. I don't know how to tell with the Asari or humans besides the fact that they attacked us, even trying to bite at us when they got too close, but the Turians aren't… aren't normal."

Jane frowns and her throat bobs as she swallows. "There's no way of saving them, is there?"

He nods, his eyes no longer watching her in efforts to keep aware. Surprisingly, Williams leans around the opposite end of the crate and takes a similar position of watch as he has. "Tell me what we're looking for, Vakarian," she says. "No use only one of us watching for the crazy fucks."

"They have the only way out blocked off. They are staying out of our hearing range so that we can't track their movements. Coincidently, that puts them so far behind the crates that our sensors can't track them either." He grunts at the fact, cursing inwardly how nothing seems to work in their favor. "They barely outnumber us, so they won't attack us head on. They are relying on us to either enter the crates in search for them, stay here until we grow complacent, or take the door so they can move up."

"Apex predators, huh?" Jane jokes with a depreciative laugh. "Remind me not to play a game of hide-and-seek with you." She steps around the crate and scans the area of open space between them and the hidden Turians. "I have an idea, but you two probably aren't going to like it."

He growls, but Ashely's protest covers it. "You got to be shitting me, ma'am."

"We have enough of that for me to be adding to it," she responds without moving her eyes from the field. "See those canisters by that open crate?" She motions with her shotgun at a crate directly in front of their location. "I don't know much, but I know that the little blue insignia on them mean they are used to cryo-freeze shit." She throws a grin at them. "I need you two to cover me while I drag those things over here with my biotics."

"Meaning you're going to put yourself in the open and hope they aren't crazy enough to charge you." He tries to clamp down on the growl in his vocals, making his remark seem more sarcastic than letting the Chief hear just how stupid his thinks this idea is.

"I'm certainly not going to try and wait them out." She frowns while locking her shotgun to her back. "Just cover my back, Vakarian."

His grip on his rifle tightens, but he bites back his response, instead giving a slight nod in understanding of her order. It's not like he wants to wait out his own people turned feral in the crates, but he certainly doesn't want _his mate_ standing out in the open, occupied and somewhat defenseless, while she tries to form her biotics to pull a cryo-canister. _Saleon will pay for what he's done plus putting me in this position of watching my wife stupidly tempt death at the hands of maniacs from my own species._

Glowing blue, Jane takes a deep breath before stretching her arms out before her, engulfing the canisters with the same aura. Closing her fingers and pulling her arms towards her chest, almost as if pulling an invisible rope, she starts to gradually pull the object across the blood stained floor. Garrus knows she's going slowly because this is only the second time using her biotics for a gentle task, so he shifts his attention away from the sight of her and towards the room, changing from looking at his visor to his scope in attempts to catch any movement.

Over the rattling scrape of metal across metal and the occasional scrape of the canister tracking through something more organic, Garrus picks up the soft rumbling of vocals, harmonics distant but similar to those used in military commands, and his mandible's twitch in realization. Acting quickly and not really caring what the reprimand may be, he takes out of cover, raising his rifle in the direction of the most prominent vocals and taking a shot.

He doesn't see his shot stagger a copper plated Turian, the shard of projectile hitting its shoulder, as he forgoes cover to stand by Jane. Tactics won't work here and he's damn sure he's not going to take cover while she stands out here like an idiot with a death wish. Throwing his rifle to the ground, he jerks Jane's shotgun from her waist and sends an Overload at the canisters still by the crate, flicking a mandible at the pained hiss of whatever was moving forward through the shadows.

In a sound of gunfire and buzzing biotics, he catches Jane lift a dark plated Turian into the air while Williams doesn't hesitate to put as many bullets before overheating into its plated skull. Ignoring them, he sees a female Turian charge, her mandibles spread and vocals screeching, and cringes at the thought that she was probably once beautiful with her rare red plating, but doesn't falter to slam the butt of Jane's shotgun against her nose plates to stun her. She stumbles with a hiss before he shoves the barrel against her muzzle and pulls the trigger, turning his head away with a frown.

Too late, he hears the heavy footsteps coming up from his side. He has enough time in that split second to turn, vaguely register copper plates with red – either colony paint or blood, he's unsure- and lament that he doesn't have the time to raise the gun before the Turian is thrown in a blast of cold air. "Get away from him, you fucking asshole!" his wife screams out to the sound of the Chief's gunfire, her chest heaving.

She approaches as the din of assault rifle dies, looking down to the copper Turian as it keens in pain to the harsh cold that clings to his facial plates, freezing the organic plates beyond repair. From the looks of it, she managed to hit him right in the side of the neck and head with the cryo-canister. She pulls out her pistol with a frown, crouches down, and puts a clean shot through the side of his head. "An end to your suffering," she whispers to the still body with a heavy sigh.

Garrus' hums in shared sympathy. None of these people deserved this, to become something feral, mad. He's never known a reason for the saying 'less than human' until now, and it fits despite the species. He lays a hand on his wife's shoulder, a soft rumble of understanding, of unspoken assurance that the one who did this _will_ pay. He doesn't know if it's more for her or him, though.

She nods and pulls herself up, taking her shotgun from his hands to lock back onto her back. The Chief approaches, his rifle in her hands, and offers it offer, to which he takes with silent thanks. "All hostiles accounted for, ma'am," she offers with a defeated look.

"Right," Jane acknowledges. "Let's find Saleon, or Heart, and make the bastard pay for what he's done here."

He growls his agreement as the Chief gives a stern nod, neither all that willing to want to stay much longer in this ship of pain and torture. Jane leads them through the door into a passageway, a door directly before them the logical location of the cockpit while two doors sit at either side.

"Garrus, you visor picking up anything through the walls that I'm not seeing?" He grunts a negative and she nods, then points with her left hand towards the cockpit. Williams, understanding the direction, moves forward. "Williams, set up that VI link while Garrus and I deal with Saleon. I want off this damn ship the moment we kill the fucker."

"Aye, ma'am." The cockpit doors swing open and the last they see of the Chief is her back as she bends under the main command console to begin patching in the impound VI.

"Garrus," she looks to him over her shoulder. "We need to make sure it's him, first. Once we have an affirmation, you can nail his ass to the wall, airlock him, or cut him up to pieces for all I care."

He growls at the thought of the sweet torture he could do to the slippery son of a bitch for all of the horrors he did to those people back in the hold, but he knows they still have a job to do, a soldier with them that could ask too many questions, so he will have to deal with just handling this with a bullet. "I understand. Lead the way."

Stepping into the first medbay, they find nothing but a grimy lab table and the strong smell of death. Not even bothering to enter, Jane slams a fist on the command console, locking the room away and trapping the smells inside to fester for the Alliance. Leaving only one room left, she looks to him and he gives her a quick nod, a silent assurance that he understands the plan.

Doors swing open to another lab, this one partially clean except for the strong smell of cleaning chemicals that fail to completely mask the smells of blood. Standing amidst the medical machines that most likely have never done anything remotely to saving lives is a Salarian, dark brown at the tips of his crest that descends to a lighter red at his chin and neck. One eye is milky from age and his skin is wrinkled and dry, having lost the moisture of youth. Even if the man has gained some new creases to his face, Garrus would recognizes him anywhere, Saleon.

"Thank you, thank you," he calls out in panic, not noticing Jane's narrowed eyes or Garrus' low growl. "Thank you from saving me from those _things_. I was transporting some medical cargo and I had no idea what was inside."

"Commander," Garrus growls, knowing there comms are still connected to the Chief.

"This Saleon?" She glances over while motioning her head to the Salarian and Garrus nods, a look of steel in his eyes to match the loathing pulsing in his harmonics.

"Saleon? No, no. My name is Heart." Saleon puts his hands to his chest. "Please, my name is Doctor Heart. Please, get me out of here."

Jane shakes her head with a glare, making Garrus' shift his finger to lay alongside the trigger of his gun. "There's no escape this time, Doctor," he assures with a growl as Jane takes a subtle step to the side in silent offer to let him move up. "I'd harvest your organs while you're still alive or let you go mad with hunger, but we don't have the time."

"You're crazy," he gasps in horror, black and milky eyes widening as he turns a panicked expression to Jane. "He's crazy." He points an accusing finger and flinches at the growl that rolls off Garrus' tongue in response. "Please, don't let him do this to me. I don't even know what he's talking about!"

Jane shakes her head, her eyes dark. "You don't understand, Doctor. This isn't up for debate." She looks to Garrus. "Send him over, let those he tortured deal with him on the other side."

Despite the odd phrasing, Garrus knows her meaning and raises his pistol, watching the sudden look of realization cross the doctor's face. He catches the old man trying to pull his own firearm from his hip, but it's a fleeting moment as Garrus puts the small amount of pressure his trigger needs and sends a shard of metal right between the doctor's eyes. Saleon falls, the look of horror at his end permanently etched into his features with the added addition of a green, seeping wound between his now blind eyes.

"Your days of butchering people are over," he says to no one, his growl dying and leaving his body tired. Killing the bastard felt good, but he if had managed to catch him long ago, those bodies in the cargo hold could have been avoided.

Jane puts a hand on his shoulder and motions to turn off his comm, which he does. "You gave all of them peace," she says as if she could hear his thoughts.

He runs a finger along her jaw. "I had hoped we wouldn't be forced to see something on this ship even worse than organ harvesting." He drops his head and feels her press her own in a silent offering of strength. "I had hoped my failure at catching on the Citadel wouldn't lead to more death of innocent people."

He feels a huff of her breath against his plates and his eyes fall closed. "Someone once told me," the soft sound of her voice barely above a whisper finally speaks through the fog in his head, "we can't torture ourselves with guilt over something we could have never predicted, over things we cannot change." His fists clench at his sides, one around his pistol and making the metal emit a small creak. "Do you know who that someone was?"

He pulls from her and glares down at the small body at his feet. He knows she'd remember that and bring it up one day, but he'd didn't actually think _he'd_ be the one to face his own lecture. Two warm arms loop around his torso and the weight of his wife's head lays against his back, causing the growl he hadn't known start stutter to a stop in his throat.

"Garrus, he won't hurt anyone anymore." One hand drops to his free hand and squeezes it. "I know the fucker deserved worse, I wish I could have given you that time, but he's gone now. Those he tortured are safe and no one will fall under his knife again."

He sighs, knowing she's right. At least he can tell himself that he closed the case, making sure no one would suffer at the hands of this butcher. Feeling the tension lessen from his shoulders, Jane releases him and turns away, her boots moving back towards the exit before stopping in silent question. With a snarl, Garrus fires another bullet into the Salarian's head, wishing that the man could have felt it from beyond the grave.

Turning back to his mate, he shakes his head at the silent inquiry in her emerald eyes, happy that she agrees to drop with a stern nod. Meeting Ashley in the hallway, she assures the Alliance knows of the Fedele and will be in route to retrieve it, ensuring that what happened here will be known.


	47. Chapter 46

-Jane-

Sitting at the mess table, a cup of now cold coffee at her side, Jane scribbles nonsensical doodles in the margins of her report draft. As a habit she learned in N-training, Jane tends to make a paper copy of reports before she transfers the information into electronic media to send to the Brass. The doodles, however, a just a sign of utter boredom.

It's early in the morning, just before most wake if they plan to get a decent breakfast before going on shift or first dibs on the hot water in the showers. For Jane, it's a chance to fill out reports on the last few missions they went through instead of lying awake in bed, staring at the bolts in the ceiling panels, and cursing how slow their search for Saren is taking. _How hard can it really be find a ship that looks like a giant cuttlefish?_

Tossing aside the scribble covered portfolio for their mission of _yet another_ instance of the rogue Cerberus organization messing in manners they have no business in, Jane pulls a drawing-free stack of papers over to give it the same treatment. Flipping it open in order to double check that she didn't skip it when she transferred her briefs over to the datapads, she sees the overview of what they found on Luna.

_Oh, yes. Who could forget the suspicious Alliance VI suddenly gaining sentience?_ She frowns at that, still not fully believing the Admiral's claim of innocence. _At least they got their act together and sent someone to clean up the mess before it got worse._

Too absorbed in depicting a turret being ridden by a Volus with a Sombero, she doesn't hear the delicate steps of the Normandy's resident Asari archaeologist, or see her confused eye brow furrow at the mess of papers and datapads over the mess hall table. She does hear the woman clearing her throat and looks up with a single red brow quirked in silent question.

"Shepard," T'Soni begins, "I had heard that we are heading to the Citadel."

Knowing what the woman is trying to hint at, and not really looking forward to it, Jane leans back in her chair. She hands over a datapad in attempts to change the subject and prolong the inevitable, even if she knows she's acting a bit juvenile. "Take a look at this and make sure I got everything out right." Liara looks at it, her blue eyes obvious in their befuddlement, so she explains. "It's the mission brief of when we went out to help Wrex get his armor. You know, where I had you and Poe join so we could see what she could do on the field?"

Recognition lights up her features at that. "Oh, right." She looks to the datapad and Jane watches her eyes flicker left and right as she scans the information. "It looks right, but, Shepard," she looks up, "the only reports I've ever written are of academic material… Don't you think someone else who went on the mission would be better able to fill in the missing pieces?"

_Dammit, I'm not getting out of this. Should have made it a report on Prothean shit. Bet she'd be glued to it and determined to reword the entire thing into a novel sized debrief._Nodding, Jane holds a hand out for the datapad back. "It's good enough." She slides it back to the pile of others to be given to Pressley and filed away, making sure not to make eye contact with Liara in hopes that she'll drop the subject Jane knows she came here for.

"Shepard," a soft voice inquires with a stern undertone. Cursing internally with an inward cringe, Jane drops her pencil with a little more force than she anticipated and looks up. "Now that you have the Cipher, do you think we could use it to find out where our next destination is?"

"To be honest, Liara, the Cipher didn't really clear things up." Jane shrugs, her eyes drifting across the mess as some of the crew trickle in. "What makes you think going in my head again will be any different than the first time?"

Jane can tell from the subtle flinch in the body before her that the Asari knows what_exactly_ Jane's referring to by bringing up their first meld. It's not like she openly blames the woman for making her relive a piece of her less-than-wonderful childhood, but she still doesn't have to willingly accept it again.

Blue hands twine together on the table surface as Liara moves closer to the edge of her seat. "I'm sorry about what happened then, Shepard. I've been practicing at clearing my mind, so I'm confident that it won't happen again." She smiles weakly and shrugs a shoulder. "Besides, how will we know it won't help our search if we don't try?"

Knowing the woman is right and that she needs to get her head out of her ass enough to see its importance, Jane sighs with a small nod. "Fine," she says. "Head to the comm room while I clean up my mess."

T'Soni nods in understanding and stands, giving Jane the chance to collect her thoughts under the guise of cleaning her datapads and papers from the mess table. Giving a nod of acknowledgment to Alenko and Williams as they pile their trays with food, she dumps her rough drafts on her desk to deal with later and tucks the much lighter collection of datapads under her arm. She gives Wrex a nod in response to his greeting of 'Shepard' when he steps out of the elevator, the smell of food managing to be the only thing to get him out of his bunk on time besides the promise of a fight.

She finds Liara in the comm room, sitting in her usual place to the right and in the center, and Jane can't help the huff of a laugh at the professionalism that can't seem to hide the woman's own nerves. She stands at Jane's entrance, seeming to struggle on if she should stand at attention or not and just settles with clamping her hands together to rest against her chest.

"Easy, Liara," Jane jokes. "There's no use working yourself up over nothing."

"I know. I just… Well, I felt bad after messing up so badly the first time-"

Jane waves her concern off with a dismissive hand wave and nods for her to take a seat back into her chair. "Any reason we should have to do this standing?" Liara's face lightens as she shakes her head no. "Might as well sit… much better if one of us gets light-headed."

Despite her intention do this in the chairs, Liara actually sits on the metal grating of the ground, a warm smile on her lips as she looks to Jane expectantly. Inwardly rolling her eyes at the fact that she probably should have been more specific, Jane drops to the ground before the Asari, bending her legs into the Lotus position T'Soni has taken.

"Relax, Commander," Liara says softly. "Clear your mind as I clear my own. Once you have completely left aside all thought, bring forward only the images from the Beacon." Jane closes her eyes and breathes deeply, not really sure how to 'clear her mind', but willing to try it. The room is silent as she feels the cool touch of Liara's hand against her forearm. "If you have difficulty with only showing me the vision from the Beacon, think of something pleasant and entirely you and I will withdraw. That will be your unspoken cue for me to stop and I will respect your wishes."

Jane's brow furrows at that, but she opens her eyes to make sure she heard the Asari correctly. "How am I supposed to choose what you see?"

"I will see whatever you choose to show me," T'Soni assures with a smile. "Once you show me all that you have seen of the Beacon, just give me a sign and I will withdraw. Don't worry, Shepard, you can trust me."

Green eyes drop to the ground between her folded legs and she clenches her fists on her knees. She doesn't want to have to think of something to tell Liara to get out, she just wants the Asari to go in and get out. Is this some sort of game? She's never heard of melding needing a 'safe-word' of sorts.

"Shepard," a worried voice pulls her attention back up. "It's okay to feel uneasy about melding with an Asari's mind." A look of guilt flickers in her eyes and her lips fall. "I guess I'm partially to blame for your hesitance, but I want to make it up to you." Her blue hands clamp over Jane's for a split moment, the coolness of them lessening the tension all the way to Jane's shoulders.

"Alright, Liara. I don't know exactly what you're asking of me, but let's do this." T'Soni smiles, her blue eyes still showing some concern, and she clears her throat before giving Jane a pointed look. "Now or never, T'Soni," she agrees with a stern nod.

At that, blue lids slide closed and open to reveal black holes. "Embrace Eternity," she says as Jane feels the room sway and her body lose all weight, seemingly to float into the darkness in the other woman's eyes.

Reminding herself to just let go, let Liara see the Beacon as she sees it, Jane doesn't struggle against the tapping fingers at her scalp. Instead of the dull pain she expects, she feels the sensation like water flowing through her hair and flowing into her mind. Knowing this as the Asari entering her mental domain, she calls upon the images from the Beacon and the Cipher's added knowledge, the sensation almost like calling forth individuals instead of thoughts, the weight of them more solid than her own being at this moment.

Suddenly, the images she's spent many nights sketching and seeing behind her lids appear, flashing before her. They are different this time, though, as they seem to be playing away from her person, like it is more a visual story she's telling to another instead of watching herself. It makes sense, in a way, because that's what's she's technically doing, showing Liara these images in hopes that she can translate the message in the horrid images of panic and death.

The added images from the Cipher's clarification come into picture, a shadowed world among shadows planets. The sun of whatever system they fly through is still before them, silhouetting their targets and shading their hopes at a lead, so it's no surprise to Jane when she doesn't feel her mind or body react with some 'ah-ha' moment of recognition. Despite the fact that she has no physical form here in this drifting existence, she feels herself shift in a defeated sigh as everything goes black once more, a silent inquiry of more through their link.

"That's it, Liara. I don't have anymore." She voices her nonexistence words with an absent mouth, the act of melding not yielding an actual form just sensation. Spinning herself to scan the darkness that spans around her, Jane inwardly wonders just how she's supposed to go about giving Liara the cue to cut the connection without sending Jane to the floor.

"Think, damn it," she shouts to herself, knowing their no real difference between saying something in 'her head' or verbally in this plane. "'Think happy thoughts,' she said. Yeah, that's simple."

Imagining herself taking a deep breath and closing her eyes in preparation, she tries to think up something that'll give Liara the cue. Almost instantly, Jane feels a feeling almost like a cold rush of water, though without any actual sensation of temperature, and her eyes pop open, quickly taking in the metal walls of the comm room. Her mouth drops open in surprise and she blinks, taking in the room before her emerald eyes land on an Asari with a very odd look to her face.

"What's that look for?" she asks with suspicion raising her red brow.

The doctor drops her eyes to the ground as her cheeks shift just a single shade darker. "Nothing," she says too quickly and too quietly.

Definitely not convinced, Jane's eyes narrow and her arms cross over her chest. "Bullshit 'nothing'. What the hell did you see in there?"

"Just the Beacon vision, Shepard. I'm sorry, but I didn't recognize the system."

Knowing that from the sheer fact that their melded minds didn't have some type of spark or whatever from the Asari, Jane dismisses the explanation because something tells her to keep at it. "I know you're hiding something, T'Soni." She leans down to catch the downturned eyes of the woman and scowls when they meet, green to blue. "How the hell did you know to pull out?"

Her cheeks darken another shade and that says enough. With a huff of frustration, Jane lifts herself to her feet with a bit more force than necessary, ignoring Liara's still downturned expression. "Forget it, T'Soni. Thanks for checking to see if the Cipher gave us anymore, but it looks like we're back to going with whatever the Council throws us." She offers a hand to the Asari in a silent offer of peace and willingness to drop the issue of whatever it was happened to tell her to end the meld. _She's a smart enough woman to keep shit secret. Plus, she seems more embarrassed that she saw whatever it was, so it's probably no big deal._

"Hey, Commander," Joker's voice rings out as Liara gets to her feet with a thankful nod. "We just got the okay to storm the Citadel. Should I send out your shore leave orders?"

Smirking at the thought of her crew practically chewing at the bit in anticipation of getting some time off, Jane rolls her eyes. "Go ahead, Joker. Twenty-four hours shore leave."

She hears the click of intercom at the same time as the shift of doors to the comm room. Looking over, she sees the archeologist standing just inside the open doors, a look in her eyes of uncertainty as she nibbles her bottom lip for a moment.

Seeming to come to a decision, she locks eyes with Jane, a warm smile on her features. "Have a nice shore leave, Shepard," she says before stepping out and Jane's eyes narrow momentarily and just what the hell that's supposed to mean.

_God I sure hope I didn't just screw myself with whatever that woman saw in my head,_ she thinks to herself as she scrubs a hand in her hair, not caring that it managed to dishevel her ponytail. Deciding it's not worth the trouble to stress over whatever Liara may or may not know, Jane leaves the comm room in hopes to get the few tasks she needs to do on the Citadel done as fast as she can.

Interestingly enough, she sees Ashley and Kaidan laughing and joking as they exit the stairs into the CIC together and smirks at the image of the two. Under first impressions, the two didn't seem like they'd get along as well as they do, but the easy smiles on their faces as they nod in greeting are plain enough. Though Jane may not think herself a romantic, she doesn't see anything wrong with professional soldiers finding someone to get close to on a mission like the one they're on. Besides, she trust the two to act like adults with the bullets starting flying.

Next up the stairs is Wrex, his typical look of gruff indifference still plastered on his face, but she knows better when he roughly pats her on the shoulder as he passes. Since they managed to find his family armor, the old Krogan has been friendlier than before, not as likely to rip into someone and needing less prodding when someone asks for a little 'Krogan wisdom.' Before he can get too far, Jane throws out an order to behave himself which he only answers with a derisive huff, as if she's speaking blasphemy.

"Aw, Tali," Jane says with a smile at the purple-suited Quarian as she passes through the sliding doors of the stairs and into the CIC. "Finally pulled yourself out of my drive core?"

"Keelah, that sounds so dirty," she tilts her head away in her typical sing that Jane's come to see as distaste in instances like this, but her eyes squint in humor.

Jane chuckles and crosses her arms over her chest. "I don't hear you denying it, though." She snorts at Tali's light gasp in shock. "Still… it's nice to see that you aren't the _last_ one off the ship for shore leave." Jane mock pouts. "I was starting to think you don't appreciate me giving you time off."

"I'd be insane to not want a chance away from the craziness of this place. Much longer and we'd all be just like that book Poe read us." Jane shrugs to that, silently agreeing with a smile. "And I'm not the last one. I had to threaten Garrus with my shotgun to get him away from the Mako."

Jane snorts at that picture, wishing she could have actually seen that. "I don't why. I was extra careful on our last few missions." She scowled as she thought back to the joking conversation they had the night before. "Though, now that I think about it, he did say he wanted to mod it with some new upgrades now that I 'proved I could drive it without trying to kill everyone'."

A tiny chuckle comes out of the girl's helmet at that. "Oh, that explains it. In that case, I should have left him to it."

Jane mock glares, pulling a full laugh from the Quarian. "Yeah, yeah." She lays a hand on Tali's back and pushes her on her way towards the airlock. "I'll agree to let that little bit of mutiny slide if you pull a disappearing act, Miss nar Rayya. Off you go." She pushes, forcing the girl to skip off with a last chuckle flickering the light of her helmet.

Hoping that the now thinning number of crewmen taking the stairs out to head out for their leave means she can get the chance to go get some last minute things from her cabin to take home, she turns her attention back around and nearly walks straight into her husband. He grabs her shoulders, maintaining a personal distance despite the amused thrum in vibrating the air between his chest and her face.

"Damn it, Vakarian," she hisses with a pout in her brows. "Can you _not_sneak up on people?"

"Sorry, Commander," he offers with a smirk, releasing her arms. "Silent movements come with being a predator."

"Then stomp from now on." She crosses her arms over her chest, trying to keep her frown instead of matching his smart ass smirk with one of her own.

"I'll be sure to remember that." He chuckles and nods towards the airlock. "Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't shore leave happen that way?"

"I haven't managed to get back down to my cabin to get some things with everyone rushing to get out to the Citadel." She blows a curl that falls in front of her eye because she messed up her ponytail in the comm room.

He frowns and lowers his voice. "What do you need that you don't already have?" The hair falls back in place and he moves to fix it. She doesn't withdraw, trusting that the coast is clear if he's switched personas to this more private version of himself.

"Stop that," she says with a smile and swats at his hand. He flicks a mandible, but listens as she pulls out her hair tie and works at fixing her ruffled hair. "I guess I don't _need_ to go back. I was only going to get the collection of drawings I've done since the last time we had time off on the Citadel." Hair done, she motions to leave, figuring that it's not really that big of a deal to empty her cabin as she'd much rather spend it finishing up her tasks in order to get more time to relax at home, with him.

"I don't understand why you don't just keep your sketchbooks here on the Normandy." They approach hearing range of the pilot, so they switch topics to frivolous talk about what they plan on doing with their time off. Joker pipes up with some mock sob story of being trapped on the ship and Jane light heartedly swats his chair before stepping into the airlock.

When the doors close and lock them off from prying ears, she turns to him with a shrug. "I don't know why I don't keep the books on the ship. I guess it has to do with my open-door policy. I don't really think someone coming in to speak to their commander should see something as personal as that."

He snorts. "I wasn't expecting you to have _that_ sketchbook on the ship."

"Okay asshole," she huffs and shoves his shoulder, which only gets a rumble of amusement out of him. "That's beside the point." He nods and corrects himself as the doors slide open. "Anyways," she adds once she makes sure the dock is clear of anyone who can overhear, "could you imagine the reaction if someone saw some of the pictures in _that_ book? I don't think they'd be able to look you in the eye anymore."

He shrugs with a flicker of mandible as they step into the elevator that'll take them down to C-Sec Academy. "Probably for the best. It wouldn't really be fair for them to see what they're up against."

Her only response is a laugh and a light shove.

-SquigglySquid says: Virmire is just a couple of chapters away. I'd love to hear anyone's opinion on who they think will survive the mission and why. If you don't want your thoughts to be visible to others, you can always PM me!


	48. Chapter 47

-Garrus-

"I've been thinking," Jane's says from the kitchen, the tone in her voice that Garrus usually hears whenever she's stuck at some mental impasse. On the Normandy, she maintains the outward appearance of being completely in control and never 'at a loss', so hearing it now, he can't help the amused thrum in his chest that pulls at his mandible.

"Uh oh," he says with a glance over to her from his position on their couch, seeing her scowling in deep thought at datapad in her hand. "I thought we were on shore leave…" Her head snaps up at that, a mock glare in her eyes and her lips drawn tight in a flustered pout, which only makes him chuckle.

"Look, here, you." At her approaching footsteps, he turns back to the vid screen showing something he wasn't really paying much attention to and lifts his arm for her to reclaim her place against his side. "Keep that up and I'll just sat 'fuck it' and plaster your name all over this report."

"Report?" he questions and takes the datapad from her hands, ignoring the purplish-red sphere in the other. She had claimed it was a piece of fruit when she bought it on their way home from the few errands for the ship she insisted on doing in person.

The datapad flicks to life in his hands and starts scrolling through some report. According to the heading data, it's destined for Alliance Brass, her superiors, so he's pretty sure it has to do with one of their missions.

"Weren't you done with these _before_ we docked on the Citadel?" He looks down to the top of her head as she takes a bite from the red fruit in her hand, the action eliciting a slurp noise as her teeth slice through the food.

"Oops," she says with a child-like smirk, her voice muffled from her full cheeks, and he flicks a mandible, missing that youth she can't show on the ship. Swallowing, she runs a thumb up her chin and over her lips to catch the dark red juice that escaped from her onslaught. She sticks her thumb in her mouth and looks up to him, her eyes showing that she wasn't really paying much attention.

He waves the datapad in his hand with a huff, not able to keep the smile from his plates even though he should really be more concerned with her working while she's supposed to be relaxing. Their time apart is bad enough while they're trapped under protocol on the Normandy and he doesn't think he could handle it if she spent their already limited time together working.

"Oh," she exclaims. "Gimme." The odd purple fruit with vividly red flesh in one hand while the other reaches for the datapad, her fingers flapping in silent demand. Handing it over with a chuckle, he rests his chin on her head to wait for her to explain herself.

"This is the report for what we found on the Fedele." He tenses at that, the hand that's not wrapped around her shoulders and holding her to his plates flexing against the arm rest of the couch. They showed up too late to do a damn thing about what happened on that ship after Saleon slipped through his talons besides putting a bullet through the reedy bastard's head multiple times.

Hair tickling against his jaw and mandibles draws his attention down to see Jane shifting her head to look up to him, her eyes concerned. "You okay?" she asks, the datapad abandoned on her lap so she can run a hand soothingly against his chest, along the opposite side of his keel bone than where she nuzzles her head.

He nuzzles the top of her head in response, a heavy exhale causing some of her hair to flutter and probably fall in front of her eyes. "I'm fine. Still a bit angry that we weren't able to find him before everything that happened and still upset that he managed to get away in the first place." He feels her chest expand, knowing she's probably going to start on about how he shouldn't feel guilt, and continues, not letting her get the chance to interrupt. "I've had some time to calm down enough to know there's nothing we really could have done, no use reminding myself of what I_didn't_ do right." He drops his head to lay a nip against the crown of her flaming hair. "Turians are taught to recognize their failures and correct them, taking the initiative to repair the damage is understood as a means of redemption. It's because of you that I succeeded." He takes her chin in his free hand and lifts her face to look into her emerald eyes. "Thank you for that, Jane."

He knows that this explanation may not completely ease her discomfort and most of that falls on his inability to better explain it, but it may also just end up being one of the few cultural things of their species that doesn't quite translate. He will always remember this case and what it lead up to, draw from it in order to never make the same mistakes again, and remember those that lost their lives in Saleon's hands, but he will not take the blame for their deaths.

Now that his mind is clear of battlefield adrenaline and instinct to protect his mate, he sees that they had no choice when faced with the ten individuals on the Fedele. They may have pulled the trigger on those Turians, Asari, and humans, but they were _not_ the ones who took their minds, destroyed their sanity, and turned them into nothing better than the husks the Geth used. The last traces of his regret stem not from ending their suffering, but in not being a good enough Turian to have caught Saleon in the first place.

Thanks to her, though, he managed to forge his guilt into the bullet he laid between the man's mismatched eyes and he will continue to use the experience as a tool to make sure he doesn't let something slip through his talons again. He thinks the human saying is 'live and learn' and it's what he plans on doing.

A cool hand strokes against his left mandible, pulling a purr from his throat as he can't help pressing into his mate's palm. Wrapping his hand around her wrist, engulfing the delicate joint in his ungloved hand, he pulls it off and nips playfully at her fingertips, pulling what he's determined to call a giggle from her lips.

"You still haven't said why you're working while we're off the clock," he sternly reprimands, managing to draw an unimpressed huff from her lips. He chuckles, not sure if he likes how she can tell from the lack of growling undertones that he isn't too serious. _Spending too much time on the ship, I forgot that she's not like the other crew and actually pays attention to my harmonics._

Lifting the datapad from her lap, she takes another bite of her oddly sweet and juicy human fruit. "I was trying to figure out how to word this," she mumbles around a bite before pausing to swallow. "Call it intuition, but I think it'll be awfully suspicious if I say that the C-Sec officer on my crew wanted me to go check it out because he wanted a chance at taking out someone who got through his radar. I have a feeling the Alliance will want to at least tell C-Sec about it so it doesn't come back to bite them in the ass." She shrugs. "You never know who might look at it as just another way humanity is overstepping its bounds."

He huffs a soft laugh. Though he's not sure about the political backlash she's seems worried about, he has known of situations that call for militaries to contact C-Sec and vice versa when the lines of jurisdiction come into play. Her admitting that they went after Saleon with seemingly no cause or real explanation as to how she knew where to look simply because Garrus had said something will definitely lead to the Alliance contacting C-Sec. He hated to think of the amount of paperwork he'd be responsible for filling out when he managed to make it back – _if_ he ever decided to go back, which is still a decision he's debating.

At the thought of C-Sec finding out the connection, he groans. If C-Sec is alerted that one of his most trying cases was closed during his time under the command of a Spectre, it wouldn't just fall under the notice of some of his more traditional superiors. If it caught their attentions, there would be talk and shared upset at an Officer openly allowing a Spectre to take up their cases, ire and insult towards C-Sec's ability to do its job. Anytime there was talk amongst the superior officers over the frustration of Spectres, it always tending to make it to the desk of one very familiar Turian. When word that is was Garrus' case that caused the uproar, all pieces would lead his case file to his father's desk, where it would sit until they could next _speak_, festering like the galaxy's worst case of plate itch. That isn't even taking into consideration the fact that the Spectre in question is also a human, a being from a species already looked down upon by most of the more close-minded of his people.

Garrus groans again and tips his head back, his fringe hanging over the back of the couch. Jane chuckles at his obvious discomfort and pats his chest. "Now you get it." She scoots close so he can see her knowing smirk. "And here I was worrying that your detective skills were withering away behind that sniper of yours."

With a deep exhale, his rubs the highest edge of his nose plates, right at the intersection of forehead plate, brow plates, and nose ridge. Seeming to sympathize, Jane tosses the datapad far enough on the floor so they won't step on it when they head to bed later. Relaxing back at his side, she takes another wet bite and chews silently for moment.

"I had a feeling that that's how you would feel," she says after they sit in silence. "I wrote it out to say that we heard a distress signal when we entered the system, which we did, and that we followed up on it."

"Think they'll accept that?" He stretches out his legs and watches her shrug, her free hand wiping at some dark juice on the corner of her lips.

"Who cares? I'm a damn Spectre, I don't have to explain why I travel the systems." She takes another bite and speaks around her bite. "Besides, they didn't even raise a brow when I had to debrief them on when we went to go get Wrex's armor." She swallows and pulls back so that their eyes meet. "The real question is, will that cause problems for you if I write the report that way when you go back to C-Sec?"

He shrugs, not really in the mood to explain how he's not entirely sure he even_wants_ to go back to working for C-Sec. To put it lightly, he's become spoiled being near her in a setting outside of their home and the freedom he has working with her- even when he has to fall in line like some recruit- is something he's not sure he can just put away in order to fall back into the routine he was already so frustrated with. Sure, being on the Normandy has plenty of times where he's found himself in desperate need of either a brutal, talons out and teeth bared spar, or a vigorous night with her in her cabin, but it's nothing compared to the utter lack of purpose fulfillment he felt at a desk working pointless cases.

She huffs a laugh at his dismissal, clearly aware that he's hiding something, but doesn't push. Instead, she takes another bite of her fruit, still not even half eaten. Her shoulders hunch at the dribble of juice and he shakes his head at the thought of how she could still manage to be surprised by that after it's already happened with nearly every bite. He chuckles and wipes a thumb over her lips to catch the juice, taking it to his nose to smell it.

"What is that, anyways?" he asks with a raised brow at the sweet aroma with a slight tartness to it.

"A plum?" Her brow lifts in disbelief, as if he should _know_ what it is.

"Why is it making such a mess?" She takes his thumb in her mouth and sucks the juice off, making his mandible flick in interest. He's not quite sure if she's trying to get every last drop of whatever she's eating because she likes it so much or if she's actually trying to do something _else_. It's always difficult and he's never been one to rush their games like a juvenile when she starts them.

"It's not a mess. It's just a juicy type of fruit." She tilts the hand holding it to examine it. "Though, I'm not quite sure how they got these so big. Probably genetic engineering." She shrugs and smiles, her eyes sparkling with humor. "What some?"

He grunts. "You _do_ remember me telling you that all of our fruits are usually eaten in one go, right?" He pokes a talon at the red flesh of the fruit in her hand and hits the dark, hard center, proving his suspicion that's it's like most other Earth fruits and contains a large seed that usually not considered edible, unlike fruits from Palaven. "Our mouths don't quite lend to cutting off pieces like your flat teeth do."

"Now I remember…" She smirks, her lips significantly darker from the dark fruit. Her lips changing color with certain foods had concerned him at first when they lived together, but not it's just another thing that sets her apart from him that he enjoys. "You Turians just rip stuff apart and swallow pieces whole like a bunch of savages."

He snorts at that and quirks a mandible in an equivalent to her human eye roll. She shifts her body to face him better, a sudden idea that came to her head showing in the way she bites the edge of her lip as she smiles. He raises a brow in silent question, but shifts his own body to give her room to sit closer to his front.

"Want me to bite a piece off for you?" He blinks at that, his brain still a bit fuzzy from when she suckled his thumb suddenly clearing at the horrible image _that_ question brought up. _No double entendre there…I hope._

Barking a laugh at what's probably a ridiculous look on his face, Jane shakes her head once before lifting her hand that contains her 'plum.' "Get your head out of the gutter, Garrus. Now… Do you want to try it?" Her voice takes on a teases note. "Or are you afraid of my icky germs?"

He snorts at that. "Jane, if I were afraid of germs, I certainly wouldn't get them from _sharing food_." He makes sure to add a low growling hum to his last words and can't help his mandibles as they flutter in satisfaction at her stuttered inhale.

Quickly composing herself, she cuts their locked gazes and takes a bite of her food and he's pretty sure she's caught on if the slow way she slicing into the dark flesh with her teeth is any indication. His chest rumbles in interest at the way her lips pucker against it, almost as if caressing it as she pulls away. Before her, the sight of fleshy lips have never caused a aroused thrum to kick on in his chest or his plates to tingle in anticipation, but, then again, he's never thought of what lips could actually _do_ to him before her.

When she leans to him, the smell of her hits his nose and sets against his now moistening tongue, a smell he's come to know well in the years they've been together that has nothing to do with the sweet food she's been eating. He understands it as a signal, better than any words, and cups her head in his hands, guiding her to him.

He licks the trail of juice that's leaked from the corner of her lips and down her chin, rumbling in response to her close-mouthed moan that buzzed through her lips. Tilting his head slightly, he presses his lips plates to her lips, one hand moving to tangle in her hair- only loose here in the privacy of their home and intimate moments- while the other drops to her shoulder so that she can cup and stroke his mandibles like she enjoys to do when they kiss.

She puckers her lips between his slightly open lips and he takes the silent cue and clamps down softly, trying to create as much of a seal as he can hope with his differently shaped mouth. At that, she opens her lips, releasing the sweet scent of the plum against his tongue and he doesn't hesitate to dive in, his tongue wrapping around hers with the morsel between their two tongues.

It is sweet, and tart, almost like a fruit he remembers his mother used to plant in her garden when it became overripe, only without the bitterness or sick stomach that came from eating it when it fermented. His mother had to stop planting them after his stubbornness had lead him to eaten them one too many times, leading to him having more than one visit with their family doctor. He never liked the taste of them when they were fresh, too sour and their rough skin uncomfortable when they slide down his throat, but this 'plum'? He could get used to it, even overcome the embarrassment of most likely having to cut it apart to eat it –unless someone would be willing to repeat _this_ method of eating.

As his tongue wraps around the piece of fruit, Jane presses her tongue against him, stroking him back into his own mouth. She pulls away with a quick lick against his chin, a small Turian gesture for all the human ones he's taken to using, and ducks under his chin. She makes that unique clicking purr with her tongue, her closest approximation to a loving purr her single vocals cords can produce, and nudges his chin in silent command.

Returning her purr with one of his own, he tilts his head up and lets the piece of plum slide down his throat. He rumbles at the sensation of her lips and tongue tracing the line of his throat behind his swallow. A growling grown emits from his chest and up his extended throat at her flat teeth taking the skin of his neck into her mouth and giving a teasing tug and shake.

He can't help his tightening hold in her hair at that and he hears her chuckle huskily in what he knows is her unspoken assurance. She's always said she likes when he tugs her hair or grips her hard, so he tries to comply, even if most times it just ends up happening unintentionally anyways.

He secretly loves that his mate, who one of the strongest and most capable warriors he's ever know, often gives him free reign to carry her, to lead their couplings in bed. They will always be equals, but in their private moments, he can be the strength and protection she deserves.

He's just about to pull her to his mouth again when he hears a chirp. At first, he thinks the noise almost came from his wife and his body stops, his mind stunned that he could have hurt her during what they've done so many times before. His hand moves to take her chin so he can look at her when another chirp sounds. His mind is clear enough now to recognize it as _not_ her, but that just brings up more questions as one of his brow plates rise and his head tilts in confusion.

Another chirp and Jane chuckles, her tone lacking the dark lacing of lust that tells him he's obviously too doped up on pheromones and hormones. She looks up to him and he sees that at least the small ring of green and quick pants show she isn't _completely_ unaffected. Standing up from the couch, she plants a quick kiss against the base of his fringe, not helping with his attempts to clear his lust addled brain and he groans, but pushes into her fleeting, moist caress.

Taking a step into their kitchen while simultaneously turning down the volume of the vidscreen, Jane looks at a datapad she left sitting on the table she had bought from some antique store years ago. They had silenced their Omni-Tools once they arrived at their apartment in efforts to attempt at some time alone, but she had set up a datapad that had a direct link to the Normandy to alert her with anything or anyone with high priority trying to get a hold of her.

"Shit, it's the Council," she curses, "I got to take this." He rumbles an affirmative and remains on the couch in hopes to stay hidden but still hear the call, since she's bound to tell him about it anyways and by the look of her eyes, she wants him to stay.

Smiling softly in thanks, she takes a few deeps breaths to collect herself before flicking her wrist to answer the call, a small hologram of the three Councilors in miniature and from their shoulders up appearing. "Shepard," she greets flatly.

"Commander Shepard," the Asari Councilor begins, seemingly not bothered by the less than friendly greeting. "We've just received information that may be critical to your mission against Saren." That has both Garrus and his wife stiffening slightly in better attention and he catches her nod to continue.

"We've received an urgent message from one of our infiltration regiments in the Traverse." The Salarian Councilor's information makes Garrus' brow plates draw down. It almost sounds like they knew Saren could have been involved and, yet, they sent another team in to collect data. It doesn't make sense for the ones who were specifically tasked to find him, but maybe he's just misinterpreting it.

He doesn't hear what Jane says, but he does catch the response from the Asari Councilor, Tevos. "Spectres tend attract attention, Commander, but they are only one arm of the Council. Special task groups are often a better option for monitoring developing situations."

"We currently have several infiltration units scattered throughout the border regions of Citadel space," the Salarian Councilor, Valern, adds. "This particular unit was gathering intel on Saren."

Garrus' low growl is covered by Jane sighing and rubbing a hand at her temple. "Councilors, you put me in charge of chasing Saren and, yet, you _don't_ tell me when you have a lead on him?" She drops her hand and scowls at the images floating above her wrist. "I was _just_ there earlier today asking for a lead." He watches as she cuts herself off, the fist at her side clenching.

The dual tones of the Turian Councilor finally join the conversation after Garrus was sure the man wasn't even present. "Obviously patience isn't a strong suit, Commander." Garrus tightens his fists against the couch and growls low at the man's condescending tone. No self-respecting superior officer would use such disrespectful harmonics, even to their subordinates, and he knows the Councilor, Sparatus, isn't controlling himself because he doesn't expect anyone listening to hear the subtle tones. "If you would control yourself long enough for us to explain, you'd understand why you weren't made aware."

"Unfortunately," Valern continues, as if not hearing or noticing the interruption. "The message we received was little more than static. The infiltration team must be in a situation where they can't set up proper interstellar communications. However, the message was sent on a channel reserved for mission-critical communications. Whatever they were trying to tell us, we know it was important."

"Considering your interest in Saren, we thought you might want to investigate this to find out what happened to our team." The feminine voice of the Asari calms Garrus enough to relax his clenched fists and tight mandibles and he glances to watch his mate's reactions. "The signal originated from the planet Virmire."

Jane runs a hand through her hair as her chest falls in a slow breath. "And you say this signal just came in? My crew and I can't keep running around without a clear target on Saren. He's too dangerous for this to end up being another case of showing up too late with nothing to show."

"As we said, Commander, we notified you as soon as we determined that this information could be useful for your mission." Tevos' remark in neither answer or denial, reminding Garrus of the way the Citadel always seems to work and how much he _didn't_ miss this station. "Though the Council does not involve itself in the specifics of Spectre matters, it would seem that Virmire is a situation that would benefit from a rapid response. Good luck, Commander Shepard. We will keep you advised if we learn anything else."

The connection dissolves back into the glow around Jane's wrist as she leans her hands against the table, her head dropped with a sigh. "As if I _have_ any other options," she mutters under her breath, but Garrus hears it none the less.

Standing with a concerned pulse in his vocals, he moves to her side and brushes aside her hair to nuzzle against her neck, behind her ear. One of her hands moves to cup his face and he takes it as invitation to wrap his arms around her body and pull her to him, pressing her side against his chest.

"I guess this means that shore leave is cut short," he rumbles softly, a tone of sadness in his harmonies.

Her head rests against his shoulder and she smiles weakly. "I'd love to spend the rest of our time before we have to go back just being Jane and Garrus, but I can't let this opportunity slip past." Her brows draw down. "If this doesn't work, I don't what else to do," she whispers.

He hums and runs a talon along her jaw. "I understand. I want to just stay here, too, but I also want to find Saren. He's hid long enough." He presses his forehead to hers, purring at the warming smile that flickers in her eyes. "The bastard won't get away from us this time."

She huffs weak laugh and pulls away, her Tool lighting up as she types. "I guess it's time to deliver the bad news." She glances over and smirks. "Hopefully they won't be too mad when they find out this is our big break we've been hoping for."

He chuckles in agreement, nothing quite like the promise of blowing a massive hole in their shared enemy to cheer up a crew when their shore leave is cut short.


	49. Chapter 48

-Jane-

Some would call a place like this a 'paradise'.

Granted, most of those people would have never felt the weight of a gun in their hands, felt the metal heat as the trigger was pulled, or heard the whine after taking one too many shots for their weapon to handle. They would never have known the feeling of coarse weave material against their skin from toes to neck in order to prevent chafing from their heavy armor that they spend more time in than any form of civvies. Those who'd relish in the beauty of this planet are gifted with never having been close enough to their enemy to watch the light drain from their eyes, their only consolation to any possible guilt being that it was either themselves or their foe.

For people like Jane and her soldiers at her back -the Krogan, Drell, and Turian- this place is only seen as either the place where they fight to live another day, dodge the bullet that could be their last, or stain the white sands with their blood. There are no other options for people like them.

Sometimes Jane wishes their lives had lead them on different paths. Perhaps she wouldn't have had to resort to joining the Alliance, signing herself under the command of a military that she never truly cared to be a part of, in order to save herself from following the same path as her mother. Maybe Wrex would never have had to feel the pain of betrayal by his own father or carry the scars across his face as a permanent reminder. Poe, too, could have been given a chance to live the life she deserved, not the one she was forced into when she was kidnapped as a child and taken to become nothing more than a slave with a target and the skills to take them out. Garrus could have saved himself the frustration and bitter anger from feeling powerless because he could have become a Spectre, as he had dreamed since childhood.

They all could have had the chance to see this planet, with its crystal blue waters, white sands, and lush trees, as a paradise like so many others. Jane could almost imagine laying her back against the warm sand and digging her toes into the heat, falling into the bliss of ignorance of so many others that she envied. She'd close her eyes and drift to sleep, wake up with tender skin, her pale complexion not made for so much sun, and laugh, her only worries to remember to put on sunscreen next time.

Life is not like that, though, and she doesn't think she'd actually _be_ happy with that other life. She would never have seen as much of the galaxy in that life that she did as a soldier, never had a chance to truly live amongst the stars like the vids and books Kaidan enjoys. That life would have never given her the sense of family she has been given by the people on her ship, the sense of belonging to a group bigger than herself that spans over species and gender lines. She doesn't think she'd even be the same person, her life has shaped her mind and views just as it has left scars in her skin.

But the biggest thing she would miss out on, the one thing that makes her certain she wouldn't trade this life for one with less gunfire, less pain, and less stress of responsibly, is the fact that her path would have never led to the Citadel three years ago. She would have never met the man who changed her life, the only person able to save her from the pain of her past- her hero, her angel, her husband, her mate, her second half, her life – and no danger from battle or bad order from her superiors could ever make her regret that.

Jane takes a deep breath, filling her lungs with the salty air of Virmire, and opens her eyes, her mind collected once more. Joker is just bringing in the Normandy into the shallow waters of the Salarian camp now that the AA towers have been taken care of. The waves rolling through the natural rock barrier in the deeper waters crash against the ship's landing struts and lap at her crew's feet when they descend the ramp to join with her and the ground team.

"Gotta say, Commander," she hears Joker rasp through the comm and looks up to the cockpit shutters from her position, seeing them open. "I think it's nice that you finally brought us somewhere nice for a change. Not some frozen ice planet, boiling volcano, or jungle filled with crazy plant monsters. I think I can get used to this."

"Yes, Saren does know how to treat a girl to the nicest places to chase his bony ass down at," she replies while nodding to the members of her crew that she didn't take on the ground team. Looking at them, she silently appreciates that every one of them are geared up, not needing an order from her to do so beforehand. The expressions on their faces shift into what she's come to know as each of their own personal masks of profession, having learned them after spending so long working together, she motions to follow as she leads them towards the camp.

When she had arrived at the camp, her team was immediately approached by a group of the Salarian STG team and she was introduced to the Captain, Kirrahe. She didn't need her entire crew present to hear that their mission became much more complicated the moment the Normandy entered the atmosphere. Just like her usual luck, today was turning into a mission that looked simple on paper, but had shit hit the fan the moment their boots hit soil.

"Listen up to those who were on the ship. Captain Kirrahe is the lead of this unit and he says that we have AA's all over this damn planet." She stops when they get close enough to the main tent and turns to her crew. "The Normandy isn't going anywhere with those on." She sighs and glances over her shoulder to see Kirrahe approaching and gives a slight nod. "I didn't want to hear the exacts until everyone was on the ground because odds are that all of us are probably going to be seeing action today. STG says this is Saren's base of operations."

Stunned faces from the new additions to the group look around to each other and Jane can't help but agree. She and the ground team were also just as stunned to finally hear something closer to good news that anything they've heard during their entire hunt for the barefaced bastard. It turns out that they must have at least some piece of a horseshoe shoved up their ass if they finally have a chance at taking Saren down instead of chasing his shadow.

When wide eyes return to her, silently asking if it could possibly be true, she nods, but doesn't speak when she hears the clearing of a throat at her back. Turning around, she is greeted with the green skinned Salarian leading the STG group. His black eyes scan the group behind her before giving a quick tilt of his head, hopefully answering her team's inquiries.

"That's correct, Commander." He waves for her to walk beside him as he leads them to stand under the shade of the large tent filled with bustling soldiers as they prep weapons, armor, and Omni-Tools for the expected battle. "He set up a research facility here, but we can't proceed because it's crawling with Geth and heavily fortified."

She nods and crosses her arms over her chest. "And I take it you haven't been lucky enough to actually _see_ Saren to confirm this is his facility and not just some place being attacked by the Geth?" He shakes his head and she inwardly sighs in defeat, not really needing to hear his verbal negative. _Of course I wouldn't get lucky enough to catch that big of a break._

"Judging from what we've seen, Commander. The Geth didn't take this facility by force and we've intercepted enough comm chatter to determine that any mention of Saren isn't purely coincidental." She nods for him to continue, her brow raising in intrigue and wonder to just _how_ sure this men are of their information. "And taken the research and what we've been told of Saren's forces, we believe there is no doubt he's involved."

Green eyes narrow and she hears the quiet shifting of armor at the uncomfortable certainty the Captain isn't elaborating on. "Just what kind of research are you referring to?"

Blinking, Kirrahe scoffs and turns back, brushing off the outburst as if he_wasn't_ just at the wrong end of an angered Krogan. "Is he going to be a problem? We already have enough angry Krogan to deal with."

She shakes her head and pulls her lips tight, wondering if it's worth the effort. She may not completely agree with the whole situation of the Krogan Uprising and subsequent Rebellions, but she knows enough to say that she can't fault Wrex entirely for getting pissed off. Endangering the mission with an outburst and not wanting to ruin Saren's facility? Sure, she can fault Wrex for that, but getting upset because someone blatantly disregards his people and acts like they are nothing more than a tool to be discarded once they've outlived their usefulness? She'd do more than bump shoulders.

"Cut the needless xenophobic Krogan hate shit and you won't have to worry about Wrex," she says with less than professional politeness.

"I do worry." Unimpressed, Kirrahe's green head swivels to the sound of Wrex angrily firing his weapon into the water, only stopping to let the shotgun whine and cool down before starting his assault again. "It's why I'm still alive. Why don't you go talk to the Krogan? My men and I need some time to come up with a plan of attack." He doesn't wait for her to respond as he leaves her and her team to attend to whatever plans he's talking about.

Sighing in frustration at the whole incident, Jane rubs at her forehead, the synthetic weave of her gloves rubbing against her skin and helping her mind remain less biased. The texture of armored gloves always manages to help her remember when she's on the field and needs to be the Commander and not the friend. Turning to her remaining crew, she nods in silent thanks to whoever of them had offered backup during Wrex's outburst because she can't really tell now that they replaced their weapons once the situation changed.

"Damn, Wrex is pissed," Williams says, with silent nods in agreement from some of the group, as she quickly glances over Jane's shoulder to the sounds of gun shots.

"Can't say I blame him." Jane runs a gloved hand over her hair in the closest approximation to running her fingers through her hair. She doesn't need the problem of messy hair falling in her face to add to the growing list of shit that's going wrong. "Calling someone a 'mistake' is pretty harsh no matter the context. I'll see what I can do to get Wrex to see reason."

She doesn't add the fact that 'mistake' actually hits pretty close to home for her own personal life. Growing up, she knew her birth wasn't planned and, though the woman never came out and said it to her face, she always knew she was just as big a mistake to her mother as the Krogan were to the Salarians.

_Not now, Jane,_ she scolds. _Get your head in the game if you're going to hope to convince Wrex this is best._ Mentally shaking herself back to the present, she nods at whatever caution Kaidan offers about her approach.

"Alright," she says as she scans her team, "I'll talk with Wrex. You guys see if you can offer any aid to the Salarians here. You all know your specialties, so you know where you'll be best appreciated." She watches the group as they silently nod in understanding. "Good. Dismissed until Kirrahe has his plan, then I want all of you back to hear it."

They echo off affirmatives and ayes before going on their ways towards different ends of the camp. Some stop to offer aid to what she's sure is the tech group, some move to what's bound to be the medical tent, and some just go to a STG officer and offer aid where ever it's needed. Crystal blue eyes lock onto hers for a split second, a knowing look crossing silently over the distance between them, before Garrus moves to offer aid to the weapon's specialist while still being suspiciously out in the open enough to have eyes on the entire camp.

He doesn't react much, but she does notice his slitted pupil twitch in recognition, so she continues. "These Krogan are not Krogan, they are slaves. Look at those we've already faced. To Saren, they are tools, pawns for his army and minions that lick his boots. Is that what _you'd_ call a future? Are Krogan nothing more than tools for other species?" Her face relaxes and she completely relaxes her hold on her shotgun, letting her right hand hold it to her side. "Is it better to be a slave that obeys, or an individual that chooses?"

The eye focused down the barrel of his shotgun scans her face, flitting left and right in his internal debate. Soon, a rasping exhale escapes his lips and his fingers loosen slightly on their hold on his weapon. "No," he finally says, his voice stern and completely missing that earlier uncertainty. "The Council treated us like tools once, then, as thanks, they neutered us like animals. I've seen enough of what Saren does to his followers to know he won't even be _that_ generous." His gun lowers, almost as if its weight has suddenly turned into a task. "I still can't accept destroying what may be our only chance, but you're right." He takes a similar stance to that of Jane, his shotgun resting in his right hand at his side. "As much as I hate to admit it, I trust you."

Her lips twitch at that, knowing the man can't complement worth shit. She nods in understanding and moved to clip her weapon back onto her lower back. "Just one thing, Shepard," the Krogan's scratchy voice calls. "When we find Saren, I want his head."

She barks a laugh at that. "Well, so long as you're fine with it having a few extra holes in it, I'm sure I can manage that. Wouldn't want to take the rest of the crew's fun away, but I'll tell them you called dibs on the trophy."

He nods, his eyes looking out across the beach. "You also better go make sure your crew's panties aren't in a wad." She raises a brow. "Pretty sure they all pissed themselves during our talk." He motions behind her and she looks over her shoulder to catch eyes dart back to whatever is before them in attempts at looking busy. "Some of them may need you to hold their hands and ensure that you're okay."

"Easy, Wrex. There's no offense intended."

At first, she didn't know if the man just wanted to be left alone to stew, even if she thinks that isn't such a good idea for the Krogan, but the rumble of amusement dispels her worries. "I wouldn't be so sure." His wide mouth quirks. "Pretty sure your mate wasn't as reluctant as you to put a bullet in my plates. First to take aim and last to drop sights… pretty sure he's got a quad instead of those tiny stones most Turians have."

She cringes at just _how_ Wrex would even know enough about a male Turian to be able to insult their perspective genitalia and figures it's best_not_ to know, just going with it being a typical male insulting another male's equipment thing. The Krogan laughs at her expression and she lets him, deciding it's better to see him enjoying himself at her expense than pissed off at what they have to do, even though he still doesn't like it.

"Alright, enough later at your commanding officer. You've done enough insubordination for today." She waves off the last of his dying chuckles. "And I am _not_ going to ask about the Turian nut joke because I don't want that headache and resulting nightmares that story's bound to bring. I'm going to check in with the rest of the squad and then see if Kirrahe has gotten his pointy head out of his ass long enough to come up with a plan of attack. I want everyone there when we finally have something, so I'll ping you."

He nods and she leaves him, waving off the concerned Salarian officer as he glances back towards the Krogan. She doesn't need anyone keeping an eye on her crew, especially if their eyes just show their blatant suspicion and they do nothing to hide their expression of distaste, because they just want a reason to put down someone they see as nothing more than a rabid animal. _Damn, do I just wish a mission would be simple… just once._


	50. Chapter 49

-Garrus-

Four teams are meant to assault the base, three units comprised of the Salarian team and one led by Shepard and consisting of the squad of her choosing. Their numbers are small, but they just may be able to pull off such a risky plan to ensure the rigged bomb can make it into the facility, where it will be able to cause the most amount of damage. It's a sound plan when Garrus thinks about it, though the problem that makes his wife's face tense for a moment before relaxing back into her passive mask could be a problem.

One of their team, their crew, must accompany one of the Salarian strike teams. Kirrahe doesn't say why he's sure he needs them or why he thinks the presence of _one_person will be such a big advance, but Garrus knows the Salarian won't say much more than he's already offered. It's something he's learned about Salarians from working with them at C-Sec, they tend to pass over details they don't think will be of any benefit to the task at hand, considering the time to take to explain better used for action.

Though he doesn't really know why and he's sure it has nothing to do with the Captain trying to withhold information, he knows Jane likes to know the entirety of the field before going in or else she's left to improvise, which he _certainly_ could do without. He's already had too many occurrences of having to bite his tongue to keep from yelling at her like she's his mate, forgetting that he's supposed to act like her subordinate, and he doesn't like to always have to find his instincts around her.

Jane's huff of determination pulls him from his thoughts just in time to hear her start giving _her_ opinion on the Salarians' plan. "Fuck your plan, Kirrahe. I have a full team of soldiers ready to fight and they definitely know how to back it up, so I'll do you one better." She looks over her shoulder to the group of the collected crew. "Kaidan _and_Ashley. Congratulations, you _both_ get to assist Kirrahe's teams, so cut the couple's bickering and form up."

They nod, but the Captain makes a show of clearing his throat, pulling all of their attentions back. "I appreciate the assist, Commander, but we need someone to arm the bomb."

Garrus sees his wife cock her hip and knows she's struggling to keep her arms from crossing at her chest with her temper. "I have one of the best techs around _and_ she helped put together the bomb." She glances sideways over her shoulder. "Tali, you're responsible for setting that sucker up. Liara and Poe will cover you on the ground while you're setting up in case the Geth catch on." With their nods, she turns back to Kirrahe. "There you have it, Captain. One Alliance soldier for each of your two remaining strike teams, I take the last two of my squad, and my tech expert sets the nuke once the way is clear." She shrugs as the man lifts a hand to his chin. "The way I see it, the more the merrier."

Garrus watches the Captain's large, black eyes, wet with moisture that seems to coat every Salarian's orbs and shine in the light, shift over Jane and the team. He takes a deep breath in consideration before dropping his hand and nodding his brightly hued head. "Excellent, Commander. You seem to know your team well, so I will not refuse your offer. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to address my men."

Jane nods as the gangly figure walks to address the small group of his surviving team. Once he's out of hearing range, she turns to her own crew, most likely to address them. Her emerald eyes move to each of them, dropping to those at or below her height and rising to gaze into his, before she takes a calming breath.

"Sorry to send you under someone else's command you two," she says to her two human subordinates with a weak smile. "But I know you both know what you're doing. You don't need my lead to get the job done right."

"Don't worry, Shepard." Kaidan smiles and crosses his arms at his chest, confident, it seems, from his Commander's trust in his abilities. Not that Garrus doesn't agree, but it is a sight to see the normally shy and withdrawn man actually take on an air of boasting. Garrus is almost worried if the sudden change may actually be a sign of the Lieutenant trying to cover the slight waiver in his voice. "We won't completely fall apart without you around."

Ashley snorts at that. "The flash-light heads won't even know what hit them." Jane motions a silent dismissal to them and Williams pats Alenko on the back before the two move away to, what looks like, talk together in privacy.

Jane huffs a short laugh and shakes her head as she watches them go before directing her attention to the three she assigned to watch over the nuclear armament. "You three will be on the ship until we clear out the base. Try not to get too lazy while we do all the hard work."

She smirks and crosses her arms, but her eyes lack that usual shine they have. He knows the others don't know her as he does, can't see past what she wants them to see, and he knows he needs to do something about it before they head into battle. They need a confident leader that has every intention of winning this without a single loss, a force to pull strength from to wash away their own fear of defeat.

More importantly, he can't bear to ever see someone he's so proud of torturing herself over what _could_ happen, her eyes dark in fear of failing. She still blames Akuze on herself, the loss of her first surrogate family's death heavy on her shoulders, and though she's more forgiving than when they met, the wound is still too fresh. He will not let her fear the worst, mourn her newest family before they have even lost.

Tali and her team leave their group, probably to move off to the STG specialists that helped produce the bomb they are to activate in the facility, while Jane directs her attention to Wrex. "You've lost time everyone else had to check their weapons and stock up their suits." She motions with her chin towards a tent Garrus knows has supplies. "Double time it. Last thing we need is your weapons going to shit in the middle of a fight."

The Krogan stomps off with a good-natured grumble at her jab, leaving Garrus alone with his mate. Emerald eyes look up to his, flickering over his plates with a searching look as her face loosens a miniscule bit from her commanding mask. "Walk with me, Vakarian," she says, her voice low, as she leads him somewhat away from overhearing ears.

She stops just at the edge of the water, the white foam licking at the toes of her boots, and stares off into the horizon. Standing at her side, he gazes off and into the black, stormy clouds above the sea, the darkness lighting with the occasional flash of jagged electricity. If he was one for suspicions, Garrus would take it as a possible bad sign of what's in store for them, but he's never been one for wasting his energy on fearing the unexplainable and something that can't be handled with a bullet. He wouldn't be the one to fall under the foreboding feeling of the storm, see the endless turmoil of a raging storm just out of their reach, yet still threateningly close, as a warning.

"A place like this is deceiving," he hears his wife almost whisper, her eyes still locked on the distance before them. "One direction, you see beauty that's the epitome of vacation brochures, but turn around and you see nothing but a violent storm. Even the sounds are direct opposites, on one hand, you have the lapping waves along the shore and music of the birds and animals in the trees. Then, the façade is ruined by the crash of deafening thunder." Garrus turns to look at her, his brow plates drawn down in confusion of where she's going, but she doesn't see him with her eyes on the horizon. "I can't help but wonder if that's how this mission will be."

Rumbling in his chest at the uneasiness her blank stare gives him, he shifts his body in attempts to look like his adjusting his armor in order to brush his hand against hers. That finally gets her attention enough to look to him, the lack of emotion fading as she blinks to be replaced by a sense of worry. He isn't good at this, at seeing Commander Shepard falter so that Jane can be seen where he can't openly do something about it, and he's never been very good with words, but he has to think of something.

Flicking his mandible in a half-hearted smile, Garrus figures he'll give the attempt his best, she never said she married him for his great speeches. "I know you, Jane," he begins, his smirk feeling a bit more natural at her slight brow raise. "You just talked down a Krogan by, what sounded like, insulting his intelligence." She snorts at that. "At least twice now, you've intimidated someone simply by making your hand look like a weapon and pointing it in their confused face. That's only the beginning, so since when has something not turning out how we expected even slowed you down?"

"I didn't have to order my men to fall under another's command and rely on strangers." Her eyes narrow and she crosses her arms, but he takes it as a good sign because he's starting to see some of her stubbornness return. "Making a mistake in those instances didn't come with the threat of a nuke."

He doesn't want to seem to be belittling the possibility- he's just used to always knowing risk as a Turian and doesn't fear the consequence of death to serve a purpose- but he can't help the rush of happiness at the lack of wavering uncertainty in her reprimand. He'll probably wonder later why he's okay with the fact that he's mostly likely just pissing her off, but right now, Garrus can't help but shrug lightly as he replies.

"Is it a human thing to compare cause of death?" He crosses his own arms with a hum of amusement in his vocals. "Is that almost like Krogan and comparing scars?"

She opens her mouth to respond, but closes it with a stern glare. He's pretty sure this is probably one of the worst pep talks in the history of his people and hers, but he knows her enough to see her reluctance to respond as her mind slowing starting to realize the truth he's trying to get across. With a sigh and a gloved hand running over her tied hair, Jane takes a last look out towards the rolling clouds.

"I don't plan on losing anyone today," she says with most of her usual confidence. "I trust Alenko and Williams to keep their fucking heads down. If they don't, I'll fucking kill them." Her fists clench and her brow furrows, but he lets her continue her rant, knowing that, in a way, this is her coming to terms with the task at hand. "They don't need me to hold their hands, damn it. They were soldiers before I even met them." She relaxes her hands. "The bomb team are just as skilled. Plus, they know who's watching their asses."

She falls silent for a moment before her shoulders slump with a sigh and she finally looks back to him, a faded smile at the corner of her lips. "And the last two are you and Wrex, but I've always had to hold the two of your hands, so no change there."

He chuckles. "You only keep Wrex around for the scars. _I'm_ the one actually having to work to clear the field when both of your shotguns don't cut it."

Her smile widens and she huffs a short laugh. "I'm pretty sure the numbers don't match that statement."

"Pretty sure an electronic counter doesn't lie," he says as he taps his visor with a gloved talon.

She snorts. "I don't trust that thing since it's on _your_ head. You could always fluff your numbers." She pauses and looks over her shoulder back towards the Salarian camp at the sound of the Captain's voice dying down from the speech he was giving his team. "Huh, looks like Kirrahe is done. His men look better, too." She glances back to Garrus with a smirk. "Think that whole 'Hold the Line' speech would work for the Normandy?"

He shakes his head. "Pretty sure that kind of speech wouldn't work with your 'charge in firing and ask questions later' way of leading."

"Everyone's a critic," she jokes and motions to follow as she approaches the STG forces, the rest of the crew joining in for last orders before they storm Saren's research station. They've all chased the rogue Spectre far enough across the galaxy that their resolve to finish him once and for all is in every one of their shared gazes.

At the sight of Jane with her head held high and assured attitude renewed, Garrus even sees their own shoulders straighten and their grips of their weapons become firm with mirroring confidence. The threat of failing was heavy before, but now, with all of them determined, it is obvious that each of them knows they will succeed.


	51. Chapter 50

-Jane-

After fighting through Geth checkpoints, sabotaging the resistance in any way in order to lessen the enemy's strength against the three other strike teams, they find what Kirrahe's team believes to be the main base of operations. Radio communications sound good for the distraction teams and Jane can't help the spark of pride hearing them over the comms giving orders and reporting their successful movements.

Rushing forwards, Jane and her team easily clear out the Krogan holding the entrance into the facility by using the wordless routines they've practiced time and again through the months working together. Through the sounds of gunfire, she can easily hear the roar of Wrex before he charges and the deafening crack of Garrus' Black Widow before he smugly confirms another kill over the comm.

Their last hostile is a Krogan that managed to catch a blast from Wrex's shotgun in the throat before Jane biotically threw a volatile barrel of pressurized oxygen into his less densely armored torso. Most likely trying to gain enough distance and time in order for his secondary systems to kick in and begin the rapid healing typical of his kind, he turns tail and lopes further into the facility.

Chasing after him, Jane finally manages to drop him before he gains access to some terminal. With a jerk of her head, she orders Garrus to check its importance while she and Wrex circle the fallen Krogan, laying a second blast through the side of his head below his forehead plate to ensure he won't get back up.

"Commander," her husband calls after the echoes of her gun fade off into the distance, "this is a security access terminal for the entire base. We can turn off any alarms or send a false signal for them to follow."

Coming up to his side, he points out on the map of the facility their location. A quick look shows that their area, so far, doesn't show an alarm tripped, but at least one area on the other end of the base does, most likely one of the positions of the distraction teams. Any false signal may just lead them into more Salarian hands and, if the comm chatter is accurate, they're already getting it pretty bad.

Shaking her head, she makes a decision, even if the look in her mate's blue eyes assure her he already knows. "The Salarians have it bad enough without us fucking them in the ass. If you can disrupt the response time enough to save us having to face a shit load of Geth, good. If you can't, then we'll handle whatever they throw at us."

He nods in understanding, his talons clicking against the interface before it dims and he steps back, looking to her in confirmation. They'll just have to see if they can manage some good luck today or not.

The next room holds a new surprise they weren't even half expecting, Salarian enemies rushing without cover and firing blinding. It doesn't take much to remove the threat of them, their attack unorganized and not much better than the husk creatures the Geth have been using, but it is a bit disheartening to see considering that their presence only makes sense is they're the missing soldiers Kirrahe had told her about. What could have turned them against her team and almost entirely bat shit crazy, Jane isn't sure she wants to know.

Not seeing a point in using her shotgun, modded to take out Geth and Krogan, to take out the last former STG, Jane lets the man rush her before swinging her arm out and throwing an elbow into his long neck. He falls to the ground, choking and gasping, and his gun skids across the floor. Judging by the fading look in his eyes, he'll be out in a matter of seconds, so she leaves him.

Suddenly, she hears the clicking and high pitched whirring of a Geth and she swings her shotgun to the ready, her eyes instantly locking onto the massive Geth juggernaut that's entered the fray. She has a split second to register it and lay her finger on the trigger, her body taking a blue glow in preparation for a biotic throw to send out as soon as her shot lands, but she can't follow through as the juggernaut just disappears, one second there and the next gone.

Too slow, her ears register the loud crack of Garrus' gun and the high, mechanical scream she's grown to associate with a Geth in 'pain'- or whatever the equivalent would be in a synthetic when you land a crippling shot. She has a split second of panic in thinking the Geth cloaked before her brain snaps that those things don't have that capability and she blinks in astonished confusion. Finally, her adrenaline high mind sees the white sludge that falls from a damaged Geth in what can only be described as a giant splatter where the juggernaut once was.

"What the fuck was that?!" she yells out in bafflement, pointing a finger at the no-longer-there Geth. "What the hell happened to that thing?"

She hears the sound of Garrus' chuckle and turns to see him approach, what she swears is a swagger in his step, and lifts the ebony rifle in his hands. "I believe that's another count in my name."

Wrex, too, seems just as confused at what happened and his eyes look from her, to her husband, to the puddle of Geth ooze, but says nothing. She shakes her head, ignoring the Krogan in effort to better understand, and steps closer to the smart ass Turian.

"What the hell did you do the Black Widow?"

A mandible flicks and he taps a talon on the barrel. "I figured it could use some modifications. Now it packs a punch, as you would say."

"It already _did_. It's the best sniper rifle, period. I paid out my ass for that thing." She waves an exasperated hand at it at scoffs at the insult its gleaming surface seems to give her. "What the hell did you _do_ to it? That's not a sniper anymore, that's a fucking cannon!"

He shrugs, his mandibles flayed open in a grin. "We're fighting plated Geth and armored Krogan. It was affected my shot taken to kill ratio."

His voice has a warm buzz to it and she can't help but laugh at how proud he is of his Frankenstein gun. "Jesus Christ you're a madman."

"Madman?" Wrex finally seems to come out of his dazed stupor, his lips pulled up in his impressed smirk. "More like genius. Build weapons for the Krogan, it's a hell of a lot better than anything you'll get at C-Sec."

She shakes her head at Garrus' attempt at 'considering it' and motions to move onward. Lifting her gun back into position as they make their way from this cargo hold and hopefully further into the more important areas of the facility.

Entering the next area, they find themselves crossing a grated walkway over what looks like a holding area on the level below. They hear a timid voice calling, most likely belonging the occupant of whatever cell they can't get good sights on from their positions, and Jane peeks her head over the railing of the landing. It's only the level directly below and the voice sounds like whoever it is may be aware enough to give them some answers as to what they should expect the deeper they go, so she makes a decision. One that will most likely have her team mates grumbling and complaining in their own specials ways, but she'll live.

Locking her gun to its holster at her back, she grabs the rail before hopping up and over, much to the stuttered grunts of shock from the two aliens at her back. Her feet hit the ground with a thumb at creaking clang of her armor, but she's fine and even manages to startle a captured Salarian in one of the holding cells if his jerk back and wide eyes are any indication.

"What the hell was that?" she hears her mate growl and looks up with a smile to see a very unamused Turian and unimpressed Krogan. Garrus' eyes narrow at her mirth and he tilts his head in what looks like a silent 'well? Explain yourself.'

"What's the point in going around?" She looks around the lower level and sees an access door, motioning with her chin despite the fact that they won't be able to see what she's pointing at. "Besides, I can see a door right now that has open access that we can take when we're done."

The bounty hunter snorts. "Sure hope you aren't expecting me to take the express Shepard route."

She crosses her arms, not buying it. "Suck it up, Wrex. Afraid of a twisted ankle?"

He huffs, but takes a step back and out of sight from her angle. Quirking her lips in frustration at the stubborn jackass of a Krogan, she turns pleading eyes to her husband and pouts her lips. Unaffected by her mock pleading, her only response is a flicker of mandible, so she flicks her lashes and clasps her hands together, 'begging' for him to do as she asks.

Sighing in defeat, Garrus collapses his rifle and locks it to her back, the reward of her wordless cheer his only consolation for following her improved idea at collecting data. In a fluid motion she's come to know well from her husband's predator physique, he vaults the railing and lands in a way that even she can't help but shrug in approval, it certainly looked better and more poised than her own landing.

Now at her level, or the closest to it considering their massive height differences, she manages to catch his warm expression in his eyes, a kind of assurance that he wasn't really _that_ upset with her rash decision. She almost isn't prepared for the arrival of their third, his approach only hinted by the clanking of shifting armor before the loud crash that even vibrates into her feet through her boots and give the impression of shaking the room. Wrex seems awfully proud of himself for that, she admits, if his wide grin and show at wiping his gloved hands clean is any indication.

"Um, hello." Jane almost forgot the whole reason to jump down here and spins to finally address the Salarian she had surprised in the first place. "I think it's safe to say you aren't one of the doctors with _that_."

He points up to the upper level through the glass to make up for his still stunned disbelief and she nods in agreement. "I take it you're one of Kirrahe's men?" He nods and she continues. "We're here to blow this place to hell. Is there anything you may have learned about this place while under imprisonment?"

The man tells them of a horror they never expected from this place. Where they had expected weapons research, genetic testing, or just the confirmation of Saren breeding an army of Krogan, they learn that studies are being done of some kind of mind manipulation. Indoctrination, the man calls it, and if he's to be believed, it's the very thing that turned the Salarian's they just fought into mindless things with no hope of returning to who they once were. The tales he tells of the experiments are something from nightmares, a force that manages to get into the mind and destroy all thought, but even he doesn't know how they managed to do it. Releasing him with a warning to get out of the facility as fast as he can, they take his parting words of offering peace to those of his comrades too far gone to mind with a nod.

The fact of finding more enemies to fight and the chance to let her mind fade into the routine of cover, shoot, and biotics, helps her to push what the STG officer told her to deal with at another time. She can have nightmares about the thought of Saren possibly being able to control minds for a day when she isn't under fire and rushing against the clock in order to limit the causalities of her team who she volunteered into a position out from under her command. Now, though, she can drown her worries under the odd comfort of pulling the trigger and moving forward.

Deep into the facility, past labs filled with husks and Krogan and holding cells containing only those Salarian soldiers too affect by Saren's indoctrination for Jane to feel safe releasing them, they find an Asari hiding beneath a desk. Wiping up their weapons to take aim, not falling for another Asari under Saren's command after everything else they've seen, she is ordered to come out quietly.

"Please, don't shoot." Her hands are trembling in the air at the sides of her head, her eyes jumping from Jane to her two armed companions. "Please, I just want to get out of here before it's too late."

Jane scoffs at the pleading tone. She'll admit, the woman sounds genuine in her fear, but she's been played for a fool before and if there ever was a group of people who would have enough time to learn how to perfect a lie, it would be the Asari. "Every other damn thing in this place has it out for me and every fucking Asari that works anywhere near Saren has pretty much volunteered to work for him."

The woman's wet eyes widen and she shakes her head emphatically. "What? No, I'm not a soldier _or_ some Commando. I'm a neuro specialist and I didn't join Saren, I just work here." Jane raises a brow, silently letting the woman know she isn't helping prove her earlier statement wrong with that, and the Asari swallows before trying again. "No, it's not like that. Please… Indoctrination work like we thought. It doesn't just affect the prisoners. Sooner or later, Saren will want to dissect _my_ brain too."

Sometime about the way the woman is talking about this 'indoctrination', along with the testimony from the Salarian prisoner before, rings awfully familiar with every other supposed ally of the rogue Spectre. Listening to her explain the way they're trying to study the subtle affect brings back the last words of Benezia, the claim of whispers in her dying breath.

How could a ship be responsible for the ability to destroy someone's mind? Sure, Sovereign isn't like any ship she's ever seen or heard of in both size, build, and supposed capabilities, but how can something be able to act like a brain scrambler and nobody have any clue as to how it works? Who made the damn thing and where the hell did it come from to have this power? _And to think that Saren may not even have a hold on this damn thing!_

Clenching her fingers against her gun and releasing them in a way of clearing her head, Jane cuts off the woman's pleas. "Why should I just _let_you walk out of here? You just confirmed that you worked here of your own free will and the only reason you want out is because you're afraid Saren will turn on you, which you can bet he will." She narrows her eyes and jerks her barrel forward in threat. "What the fuck makes you think you suddenly get a 'get out of jail free' card?"

Opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water, the Asari is stunned, her eyes blinking and only managing to make it all the more obvious how close to tears she is. "I…I can help you." She points behind her weakly. "The elevator can take you to Saren's private lab." She jerks a hand to her chest. "But only I can get you in. I can get you full access to his files, all of his private data on his research. Now, can I go? Am I free?"

"Unlocking a damn lift doesn't excuse you testing on innocent people like they were fucking lab rats."

The woman's eyes widen and she takes a step back, her hands going up in a placating manner. "I'm sorry! I didn't have much of a choice."

"You always have a choice," Jane corrects. "You were just too much of a coward to make it."

The Asari yells out in protest and tries to run, but she is backed to a wall and doesn't manage to really get anywhere before Jane pulls the trigger. Her arms buzzing with the recoil of the blast, she sighs and motions onward. She doesn't know if she wants to get off this planet just to fall into the mess of the fact that their overall mission is getting deeper in shit or if she just wants to get a chance to breath without having to deal with the building mystery surrounding the rough Spectre's ship.

On the elevator up to Saren's private lab, Jane takes a break to drink deeply from the pack of water attached to her suit. Wrex just fiddles with his weapon, but she manages to see Garrus eye her from his position at her side as she slowly collects herself.

"You okay?" he asks, not too worried about Wrex seeing his less-than-professional concern, he's seen worse after all.

She nods and tucks the water nozzle out of the way. "Yeah, just a little concerned about all the pieces that are coming together. Not quite sure I like the picture it's painting." He nods in understanding just as the lift slows its decent and she leads them out.

Saren's lab turns out to be less than what she'd expect when hearing the title. 'Lab' seems like an exaggeration for the small room with a platform in the center and descending ramps around its perimeter. Her own cabin has more terminals and equipment than this place.

Stepping into the room, something she doesn't expect is a familiar glow and hum. Her eyes widening at the sight barely hidden by the design of the room, she approaches something she would have never guessed to see another of, a Prothean beacon.

"I'll be damned," she says in awe, her eyes trailing over its shining surface. It's smaller than the one on Eden Prime and doesn't pulsate with that bright green glow or have that odd suction to it, but it looks almost exactly the same. "I never thought I'd see another one of this bastards again."

When she gets close enough, it pulses once with color, making her draw back in caution, before what looks like a control panel appears. The interface is connected to the beacon, but not a separate system being used as a type of translator, it _is_ the beacon.

Glancing over her shoulder to her companions, her raised brows asking if they know what the hell they're looking at. They simultaneously shake their heads, clearly just as lost and baffled as she is. _The one time I need a Prothean expert and I leave Liara with the damn ship. Genius move, there._

Looking back to the beacon, Jane comes to the realization of what she has to do if she expects to get any answers or even hope to know what Saren knows. _Why do I always find myself in the shittiest of situations? Who the hell did I piss off, because I need to shoot that guy,_ she thinks as she takes a deep breath, preparing herself. With one last look to her team, she takes a step forward and lays her hands against the panel of the beacon's self-made terminal, not really caring to know _why_ or _how_ she knows to do that.

Lighting up in a bright green glow all too reminiscent of Eden Prime, and vaguely letting Jane regret the possible headache from this stupid decision, the beacon pulses with a deep, rumbling boom. Unlike Eden Prime, Jane feels the beacon lift her from the ground, sending pulses of energy through her body that freeze her limbs, make her muscles stiffen as if volts of electricity are running though her veins without damaging tissue or the risk of death. Visions flash before her eyes, images directly weaving themselves into her mind, of metal and machines, forms like Saren's Sovereign warship, but she can't decipher everything as it strobes in pulses just like every other Prothean vision.

Before she can register it, her body is free, her muscles loose from the beacon's grip, and her ears hear the sound of her boots hitting the metal floor before she actually notices the weight of gravity. A heavy hand is around the upper part of her left arm, the fingers wrapped completely around and dwarfing her limb in a somewhat uncomfortable hold, while her right is held at the elbow by a lighter grip that matches the hold around her right shoulder.

The strong grip lets her go into the arms of her husband as he nudges her right temple, his hand at her shoulder moving around her waist to help her as she regains her equilibrium. "I'm fine," she groans as she comes to. "Damn. The Protheans don't really know how to go easy on the mind fucks."

He chuckles and lets her go when she nods in assurance, her knees no longer like jelly and her head clearing up. She has to admit that at least this time wasn't like all the others, but it still wasn't very pleasant. Turning to her left and seeing how close Wrex is standing, she manages to understand why she was a bit confused as to who caught her.

"Wrex, did you catch me along with Garrus?"

He shrugs and waves a hand dismissively at the ground at her feet. "Didn't see the point letting you fall on your ass, Shepard. No self-respecting warrior lets themselves get downed by a dusty toothpick."

Shaking her head at that explanation, or lack there-of, she waves to go. They still have a job to do and hopefully whatever gibberish this new beacon gave her can help them figure out the importance Saren sees in the Mu Relay. If this all ties into the Reapers, which Jane is awfully suspicious it does, then they best have a game plan if it turns out that they get fucked on catching Saren here like they all hoped.

Up the incline and on the way out, her steps come to an almost comedic, stuttering stop at something she's sure wasn't here when they entered. "You are not Saren," a deep voice booms without emotion through the room as an image fades into existence from the deep red interface.

"What the hell is _that_?" The image becomes clearer as Garrus asks, taking shape like an elongated, metal insect. It doesn't take much thought to see that it's shaped like Sovereign, the form hard to forget after seeing it rise from the destruction on Eden Prime. "Some VI interface of Saren's?"

"Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh." For a mechanical voice, it seems to spit the words out like bile. "You touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding." Jane's eyes narrow at the speech, the way its monotone voice recites, that tells her what stands before them isn't a mere hologram made to fit Saren's insane views of power. She doesn't know much on the subject, but her gut is telling her she isn't standing in front of a VI just following programming. "There is a realm of existence far beyond your own you cannot even imagine it. I am beyond your comprehension. I am Sovereign."

Like a freight train plowing into her full force, and making her question just how observant she really is, everything starts to make sense. The constant flashes of Saren's ship whenever she dreams of the vision from the beacon, there one moment but gone in the next, the fact that Sovereign is so foreign in its build and abilities, the _thing_ insulting them in a vibrating drone. "Fucking hell," she breathes out in disbelief, "Sovereign isn't a ship, it's a fucking Reaper."

"Reaper?" A flicker in the interface in the closest thing a sentient, murderous AI could come to confusion. "A label created by the Protheans to give voice to their destruction. In the end, what they choose to call us is irrelevant. We simply are."

Despite Sovereign's arrogant pride, if it could be called that, Jane can't help the burning feeling in her stomach at its words. It speaks of more of its kind, which they all had a suspicion of, but its lack of expanding upon that as to _how many_ more gives her a bad feeling. Its confirmation of Liara's theory of cycles, of many more civilizations falling under the proverbially boot of the Reapers, makes her fists clench at the utter feeling of misdirection.

For everything they have thought to be advances in their own intelligences, the finding and usage of the Relays and Citadel that actually lead to further technological advancements, to just be some kind of tool to get everyone to fall into a specific order. They all think their diverse and all parts of a whole, each adding their own knowledge benefit the massive, but they are nothing more than mice in the hands of some egotistical hunks of metal, set in a maze that only leads to one outcome.

_And the fucking thing just runs around giving a logical reason for it all! At least have the virtual balls to tell me to my face why your twisted sense of 'order' even makes fucking sense._Jane steps forwards to make her argument known, not willing to let the Reaper bastard have the final word, when the windows to the lab are blasted in with explosive force. None of her team are close enough to fall under danger of the glass, but the moment of confusion allows the interface to fade away. _Because that's the only way you were going to get out of this conversation, you fucking coward piece of shit. 'Big bad Reaper' afraid of talking to a tiny human woman._

"Commander." Her comm rings of a voice she hadn't expected at that moment, Joker. "We got trouble."

She glances to make sure the other two are fine and gives them a nod that there fixing to move, Joker doesn't tend to chit-chat. "Go ahead, Joker. Impress me," she says sarcastically, as if _anything_ could surpass what they just got hit with.

"That ship, Sovereign? It's moving. I don't know what you did down there, but that thing just pulled a turn that would shear any of our ships in half." She doesn't inform the pilot of just_why_ the ship is able to do something like that or even make a big deal about not being informed of the damn thing's presence. He has enough to worry about trying to fly through the AA systems to have the bomb of a sentient ship sharing his skies dropped in his lap. "It's coming your way, and it's coming hard. You need to wrap things up in there and you need to do it fast."

She jerks her shotgun off her back and rushes towards the exit. If Sovereign is here, then so is Saren and this could be their best opportunity to nail the bastard's bony ass. With any luck, the loss of its head-figure and public pawn will do something to weaken Sovereign. "Vakarian and Wrex, we need to clear the way for the Normandy to set the nuke in the center of this shit hole and blow this place sky high."


	52. Chapter 51

-Jane-

Jane, Wrex, and Garrus take a patrol around the fountain-esque structure that's as close to the center of the facility as they can get while Joker brings the Normandy in and the ship's crew unloads the massive nuclear bomb. Last they heard of Alenko's, William's, and Kirrahe's team, they were regrouping and heading Jane's way in order to limit the amount of time they'd have to set for the bomb. By Tali's estimate, all preparations are ready for deployment and all that is needed is for the crew to stabilize the damn thing, for her to set the timer, everyone pile into the Normandy, and blow this piece of shit facility to hell where it belongs.

Noticing Garrus messing with his rifle as they wait, she can't help but approach. "Don't tell me you ruined probably the best present I ever got you, Vakarian." He raises a brow at her, still keeping his attention at his work, and she smirks, cocking her hip as much as she can while still holding her gun. "That'd be awfully rude, you know. And don't tell me you fucked up your shoulder trying to shoot that cannon."

He snorts and replaces the rifle's ammo modification, the explosive ammunition mod going into a compartment on his armor. "Not likely, Commander. Just going for precision over impact now." He nods towards the large crates of pressurized chemicals. "I'm not one for unnecessary risks."

She barks an unconvinced laugh. "You wouldn't be on this mission if that were the case. Unnecessary risk is in our job description." He hums in vague agreement and she leaves him to it. At the sight of the bomb being set in place for Tali to start to work, Jane opens up her comm channel to the other teams. "Our nuke is ready to go hot. How are we on our rendezvous?"

"Commander." Ash's voice makes Jane stop mid step, the stern hold against panic and gunfire from the Chief's end a horrible sign. "We're pinned down at the AA tower. Kirrahe's and my team have taken heavy casualties. I lost contact with the LT's team on the comm, but I know they missed the horde. We aren't going to hold out much longer and you can forget us making it to the rendezvous in time."

As if things couldn't get worse than they already are, the tell-tale sound of approaching thrusters echo in the air. All heads around her lift to the sky in time to see the insectoid shaped ship of a Geth dropship take position in a mockery of the Normandy's approach just moments before. "God dammit," Jane curses under her breath as she waves her expanded team into cover. They need to cover the bomb, defend Tali against the reinforcements as she sets its trigger.

"Commander, we just managed to see a Geth ship heading your way."

"It's already here, Chief," she bites back, the gunfire now at her position like a mockery of the ones echoing through her comm. At her side, Garrus is firing upon the approaching synthetics so that she can try to make order of the chaos. She will _not_ lay down and accept losing people on this mission.

Like a god send, the crackling of an unstable comm connection blares into her ear, the shock of the loud noise comforting in the hope that it means what she thinks it means. "Don't worry, Commander," Kaidan's voice cuts in, the static from his end sounding like he's amidst the crashing waves from the beach. "I can cover Ash. My team is closing in on her position."

"Damn, LT. It's good to hear your voice." An increase of gunfire from the other end marks the Lieutenant's arrival to assist.

"Hello to you too, Ash. Cover the bomb, Commander. We got this, then we'll hit the rendezvous."

"You're damn right." Jane cuts the comm and throws a lift at a Geth hopper mid-jump, smiling at the sick glee of it spinning weightlessly and the fact that, for once, her team has managed to make something work to their advantage. Focusing her attentions on the field and trusting the two soldiers to either pull a rabbit out of their asses and make it, or die trying, she joins her team in eliminating the Geth trying to keep them from deploying the bomb.

Unexpectedly, Jane gets her wish to see Saren when, accompanied by the whirring buzz of some fancy Geth hover-platform, he shows up, his lip plates pulled in an unimpressed scowl and hands glowing in dark energy. Diving into cover to avoid his attempts to warp her, she can only go off of the sound of a heavy splash to tell her what her eyes can't without peeking out into danger, that he's granted them the_pleasure_ of his attention. _About damn time the asshole shows his face._

Her squad's position of being spread out to cover the field gives them the advantage over the signal Turian Spectre, but she doesn't have to have Garrus' visor to see the shimmer of barrier he has around himself, protecting him from any attempts to just take him out with a simple bullet from behind. She can admit that biotics come in handy in a fight, but in times like this, she really hates the damn ability.

"I applaud you, Shepard." She hears the collective growl of hate over the comm from her more alien crew and mirrors the sentiment. "My Geth were utterly convinced the Salarians were the real threat. An impressive diversion." She can't quite tell if that tone in his voice is better or worse than him just insulting her species. "Of course, it was all for nothing. I can't let you disrupt what I have accomplished here. You can't possibly understand what's really at stake."

_There's the condescending Saren from the hearing._ "It isn't hard to understand, Saren. I had one conversation with that flying squid and it didn't take too long to figure out you're sucking Reaper dick." She glances around the corner to see that he hasn't moved and her eyes narrow at the blind arrogance and lack of worry the man radiates. "Is that what power is worth to you?"

"You've seen the vision from the beacons. You, of all people, should understand what the Reapers are capable of. They cannot be stopped." He shakes his head and scans the cover each of her crew have taken before his eyes fall back on hers. "Do not mire yourself with pointless revolt. Do not sacrifice everything for the sake of petty freedoms. The Protheans tried to fight and they were utterly destroyed." He looks to the sky and Jane clenches her fists in irritation. The bastard knows he's too far away for her shotgun to do any damage, too protected for by his damn barriers for one of her crew to take a long range shot and expect him to go down before he gets a chance to get back onto his stupid hovercraft.

She's stuck listening to his fruitless speech, every word falling out of his figurative lips just one more thing to make her believe he's completely lost his mind like he was worried about. "What if they had bowed before the invaders? Would the Protheans still exist? Is submission not preferable to extinction?"

"Don't try to sell me that bullshit," she yells over her shoulder. "Submission sounds an awful lot like giving up, like admitting defeat. I've never expected that to come out of your mouth. What happened to all that high and mighty Turian crap you've been spouting? I thought Turians would rather fight than give in to being slaves to some piece of flying metal, or am I wrong? Am I misjudging the amount of steel in you ugly bastards' spines?"

She knows she's bound to hear something about his from her crew, probably have to find something to keep her husband from mercilessly teasing her later, but it doesn't even seem to affect the ghostly Spectre.

"Now you see why I never came forward with this to the Council. We organics are driven by emotion instead of logic." His use of 'we organics' makes her frown, the word usage and seeming distaste in the term of his very being actually cooling her anger a bit. He's fallen hard under whatever the hell Sovereign has done to him and she isn't quite sure if her train of debate is going to get through. "We will fight even when we know we cannot win, but if we work with the Reapers – if we make ourselves useful – think how many lives could be spared. Once I understood this, I joined Sovereign. Though I was aware of the… dangers, I had hoped this facility could protect me."

In his faltered confidence lies the truth, making Jane sigh as she rests her head against the metal beam at her back with a soft thunk. _He's afraid. Damn it, I hunt this bastard down and I find out the idiot is too hyped up on the cool-aid to even have a clue._ "It didn't work, Saren. Sovereign has you wrapped around its tentacle like a well-worn glove."

"I've studied the effects of indoctrination." She doesn't know if that vague hum in the air is her mind trying to give him a vocal that isn't there or him actually vibrating in concern of the truth. "The more control Sovereign exerts, the less capable the subject becomes. That is my saving grace." She isn't convinced and her grip shifts back into position, her body buzzing in case the man gives her a chance, so she lets him continue. "Sovereign needs me to find the Conduit. My mind is still my own… for now. But the transformation from ally to servant can be subtle. I will not let it happen to me."

"Listen to you, damn it!" She knows this little conversation is drawing to a close. She vaguely heard a confirmation that the teams on the opposite end of the facility were thinning out their resistance and finding some breathing space, her patience was growing thin, but most importantly, Saren's confidence seems to be wavering, his 'sure thing' is starting to looking awfully misconstrued. Her body glows in energy as she boosts her biotics around herself, something in her stomach telling her that the more she pushes the man, the more he's willing to end this talk and go for something more 'active'. "You're already what you fear. Sovereign's already manipulating you into its mindless puppet."

A snarl pulls her eyes around her cover to see him shaking his head, trying to dispel what he doesn't think is true. "You can never understand. Finding the Conduit will grant me a reprieve from the inevitable. It is my only hope."

_Saren is out of his damn mind. Was he this crazy before Sovereign fried his brain or is this really what a Reaper can do?_ "Sovereign will betray you, Saren. The Reapers don't need organics to submit, they only want to harvest us. There is no compromise, only serving them until you no longer serve a purpose." She locks eyes with different members of her crew across the way from her position and gives them a nod, a silent warning to prepare for violence. "You will save no one by aiding Sovereign. In your convoluted attempts to save yourself, you will doom everyone."

A whirring of thrusters sounds, barely drowning out the growl of displeasure at her words. "I see you are not one to see reason, Shepard. I have done too much to try and ensure our survival, I will not let you see to undo that."

As she should have expected, when Saren takes to the skies, Geth pour out of the access tunnels on either side of their kill zone. From his position above them, the rogue Spectre is nearly untouchable apart from Garrus' rifle and one of the Normandy's security officer's assault rifle, but the sheer size of his platform also becomes a boon in keeping him from gaining a clear shot at her team in return.

Focusing on the seemingly bigger threat in the ground forces, she doesn't see Saren take aim and fire his pistol until it's too late. Not having enough time to warn the large group of her men of their precarious positions before they're thrown off their feet by the blast from the ruptured containment tank, she is left on the far end of the field while the few remaining effective fighters are stuck to handle the last of the Geth forces.

Like a noose, a massive hand wraps around her neck and jerks her off the ground, her feet left to dangle uselessly in the air. Staring into pale eyes that narrow in contemptuous scrutiny, she gasps and claws at the tightening grip, feeling his apparently long talons bite at her skin through his gloves. Her hands flare in biotic glow, but it simply pulses against his own barriers as he growls low in his throat, like glass and gravel, and his mandibles draw tight.

She's almost afraid that the last thing she's going to go out with will be the cracked and old plates of this bastard fading to black in the sounds of bleating sirens when everything suddenly changes. Instead of a growl of scorn and hate, she hears a loud register of a signal shot and a snarled cry of seemingly excruciating pain. Instead of the feeling of a vise around her neck, she feels the odd sensation of moisture against her skin even though she knows she didn't just dunk her head into the fountain's water. Where her eyes were filled with nothing but the image of creaked and weathered plates of the bone-white Spectre, her darkness shaded sight sees a disembodied limb and when she lifts her eyes, she sees nothing but the shape of a panting Turian, body half drenched in navy as it fires blindly to cover its retreat.

Finally, her mind snaps to attention at one thing above all, there's a blaring siren that can only mean they need to get their asses out. Stumbling to her feet, gun in shaking hands as her head still swims with confusion and cut off oxygen, she nearly trips over the Spectre's arm - _holy shit, his arm?!_ - but she's caught by a really pissed off, growling Garrus Vakarian.

"We have to go," he says, his voice clipped and vocals all over the place.

Unsure if her throat can handle anything more than a rasp, she nods in understanding, letting him drape her arm over his shoulder while he grips her waist. He, delicately, rushes her to the incoming Normandy, remarking that they already got confirmation that the Salarian teams are onboard. Looking over his shoulder with one last look to a place that is soon to never be again, she is happy to see that, though there will definitely be quite a few people in the Medbay, no one will have to be left alone to the fate of going down with the damn nuke.

Short on time she knows they don't have, she calls out with her voice weak to get the hell off this planet the moment the last of her crew's feet touch the cargo hold floor. The ramp isn't even completely up when they see the shimmer of the ship's barriers engage and feel the rush of air billow through the area as Joker wastes no time in getting them as far away as he can. She doesn't need to be in the CIC to watch the feed of the surface to know when the timer goes off on the bomb, even her weak human ears picking up the sonic boom and her booted feet feeling the subtle vibration through the metal deck.

Too exhausted to pull herself out of her mate's supporting hold, and too aware of everyone's minds to know they won't really see it as anything more than mirrors of their own exhaustion, she addresses the ship from her current position, unable to cover the big grin on her features. "Joker, set course for the Citadel. Everyone else, see Chakwas if you're bleeding or broken, hit the mess for some shitty food, and hit the sack. Damn fine work out there."

Shared chuckles and sighs of relief echo through the hold, coupled with some good-hearted jostling and shoving among the crew. Some take the time to just collect their breaths while others fall to the ground, finally taking the chance to sit and tell themselves that, yes, they _did_ just pull that off.

Glancing to her support, her green eyes lock on crystal blue and she jerks lightly towards the elevator, a silent inquiry that he answers with a rumble of amusement. Letting him all but drag her to the lift, she gives a few passing nods to her squad that have remained in the hold, smiling at the replied nod from the Krogan who seems no worse for wear, if only a little grimy and in need of a wash, smiling at Liara and Poe's warm looks of accomplishment, even if their shoulders are heavy with exertion, and giving Tali a pat on the shoulder in silent congratulations and thanks for a job well done.

Letting Garrus rest her against the elevator wall, Jane takes the quiet moment to close her eyes and let out the breath she seemed to have been holding since feeling Saren's talons at her neck. _Speaking of which…_ "Garrus," she pauses, wanting him to face her when she asks in order to make sure she has his full attention. With his lifts a brow in waiting anticipation she says, "Was I just imagining things or did Saren's arm fall off?"

He laughs at that, the emotion lighting up his tired face, brightening his worn expression that's she's more than positive had to have been from what happened in the last moments on Virmire. "His arm didn't just _fall off_, Jane. I shot it off." His brows lower, his mandibles pull tight to his chin, and a low growl erupts from his chest. "I couldn't stand to see that bastard's talons around your neck. He's lucky I was more concerned about getting you away from that bomb than painting Virmire's sands with his blood." He cuts off into a mix of rolling clicks and growls, his possible words jumbled in her translator into just a low bass rumble like thunder.

"Hey," she calms, her hand reaching out for him to come back, both physically to her side and mentally to the present.

His eyes soften at her request and he comes to her, but the secondary growl still roughens his voice as he presses his forehead to hers. "I can't see you in a position like that again. I don't want to get separated like that, I can't watch your back when we're fighting two separate enemies."

His position on the surface had him surrounded by Geth, which still is remarkable considering that he managed to pull off the shot to safe her dumb ass. She knows his worry, but she doesn't expect to fall into a situation like that in the near future. Besides, if they had been together, he might not have been able to pull off that shot. "Garrus, if we weren't separated the way we were, you wouldn't have been at Saren's back and in position to do what you did. Which is still pretty gruesome, by the way." She runs the tips of her fingers along his mandible, cringing at the streak of blue that her touch leaves and knowing his forehead will be just the same. _That's what that that wetness was, crazy Spectre arm blood. Gross._

Her husband chuckles at her expression and pulls back, the lift below their feet slowing in signal that they need to get ready to move. "Trust me, an amputation via Black Widow is the _least_ gruesome thing I could've done. Give me some time and you'd be impressed with how creative I could be to the man who threatened my bondmate."


End file.
